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DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

BIBLICAL CRITICISM AND
MODERN THOUGHT

BIBLICAL CRITICISM

AND

MODERN THOUGHT
Or, THE PLACE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
DOCUMENTS IN THE LIFE OF TO-DAY

W. G. JORDAN, B.A., D.D.
PROFESSOR OF HEBREW AND OLD TESTAMENT EXEGESIS IN QUEEN'S
UNIVERSITY, KINGSTON, CANADA
AUTHOR OF
"prophetic IDEAS AND IDEALS " AND "THE PHILIPPIAN GOSPEL "

Edinburgh: T. & T. CLARK, 38 George Street
1909

Printed by
Morrison & Gibb Limited,
FOR
T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH AND LONDON.
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO. LIMITED, LONDON.
NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.

TO
Sir SANDFORD FLEMING
K.C.M.G., LL.D.
WHO FOR TWENTY-NINE YEARS HAS RENDERED VALUABLE
SERVICE AS CHANCELLOR OF QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY
KINGSTON, CANADA, AND WHO, AMONG HIS MANY GIFTS
TO THE CAUSE OF EDUCATION, FOUNDED "THE CHANCELLOR'S
LECTURESHIP," THIS VOLUME IS, BY KIND PERMISSION
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

PREFACE

The author of the present volume was appointed
to the Chancellor's Lectureship of Queen's Uni
versity in 1906 and 1907, and delivered to the
Theological Alumni Association the nine lectures
which form the substance of the book. Chapter L,
which now serves as an Introduction, appeared
in 1 90 1 as an article in The Biblical World
(Chicago), and is reproduced by permission ;
Chapter XI. was read before The Philosophical
Society of Queen's University in the autumn of
1906; the remaining three chapters, X., XIII.,
and XIV., were added to round out a little more
the programme that the author had in mind.
So much as to the origin ofthe book, now as to its
plan and purpose. The title, though perhaps some
what too general, indicates the spirit in which the
work was undertaken. Considering the audience
to which, in the first place, the lectures were to be
addressed, it was thought advisable to attempt a
general review of the Old Testament Problem. It
is true that these critical results have been for a

viii Preface
considerable time the property of scholars, but it
may be doubted whether the great mass of the
ministers and intelligent laymen, who must guide
the counsels of the Church, have assimilated them
and seen clearly their bearing upon the inter
pretation and exposition of sacred Scripture. The
thought running all through the volume, so far as
the author has been able to give expression to
it, is that in order to understand or expound any
passage of the Old Testament, and particularly
the early narratives, it is necessary to form a clear
idea of the place of this great book in the history
and literature of the world. The endeavour to
form such an idea brings us at once face to face
with the fact that the increase in our knowledge
of the earth and the life of humanity upon it
compels us to modify some of our beliefs as to
the nature of the Bible. Changes thus made at
the demand of intellectual honesty turn out to
be in the interests of the highest faith. Only by
treating the book as real literature can we get at
the heart of the people from whom it came, only
thus can we grasp its real revelation. Professor
Marti has well said that we are not compelled to
renounce our belief in revelation because we
cannot formulate a theory of it that is free from
objection. We are often warned by men who are them
selves essentially modern in their way of thinking,
that it is possible in the study of literature to make

Preface ix
too much of historical development and biological
processes. We are quite ready to pay attention
to this good counsel from any quarter, but all that
it amounts to is that, whatever work we are doing,
we must preserve our sense of proportion, and we
must not prize the processes for themselves alone,
but for the higher ends that they serve. The
words of poets and prophets, simple or sublime,
may mean more to us than to those who uttered
or heard them, but it is through the original
meaning that we pass to their larger applications.
The artist cannot afford to despise technique and
rely altogether upon vague impressions ; the men
with the greatest genius for presenting the ideal
have submitted to the most severe discipline in
the matter of form ; and in our treatment of litera
ture, while we beware of losing ourselves in minute
controversies, we must be willing to submit to
patient toil, which enables us by quick imagination
and living sympathy to re-create the past, — the
past out of which we came and to which we owe
so much. By modern thought we mean not any
wild speculations or temporary fads, but the great
ever broadening current of human knowledge
which comes to us from God through the toil of
faithful men. Placed in the light of such know
ledge, the literature of Israel grows large and
influential ; to make our knowledge of its spirit
and meaning a little more adequate is the duty
not only of ministers, but of all men who believe

X Preface
that through the ages there runs a great purpose of
mercy and helpfulness. If the author has been
able to contribute in the slightest degree to this
end, he will ever cherish a deep sense of gratitude
to the Great Father who has guided him through
so many difficulties. His thanks are due to the
publishers for their courtesy, to Rev. H. T.
Wallace, B.D., Fellow and Tutor in Hebrew,
Queen's University, who read the original copy
and verified the references, and to the Rev.
Arthur Jenkinson, Innellan, Scotland, who gave
his kind assistance when the volume was passing
through the press. W. G. JORDAN.
Kingston, Canada,
\2th September 1908.

TABLE OF CONTENTS *

CH.\P. PAGE
I. The Present Outlook for Old Testament
Interpretation  i
II. The Old Testament as a Problem ... 21
III. Archaeology and Criticism  42
IV. ASSYRIOLOGY AND THE OLD TESTAMENT . . 64
V. Babylon and the Bible  85
VI. Babylon and the Bible (continued) . . . 108
VII. Early Hebrew Religion  130
VIII. Struggles and Survivals  154
^IX. Historical Development  175
X. The Significance of the Documentary Theory 198
XI. Criticism .\^d Theology  216
XII. Criticism and the Preacher .... 236
XIII. Modern Interpretation of ancient Stories . 250
XIV. The Message of the Prophets .... 268

NOTES  287

CHAPTER I.
THE PRESENT OUTLOOK FOR OLD
TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION.
One who studies the Old Testament sympa
thetically according to modern methods can say,
sincerely and cordially, that the outlook for a
more rational interpretation of that great literature
is exceedingly hopeful. When, however, we seek
to give a reasoned justification of this statement,
we find that our embarrassment springs, not from
the poverty of our material, but rather from the
richness of our resources. As we shall see, the
Biblical criticism which has come to increased
efficiency during the nineteenth century, and
which many have feared as a destructive force,
has multiplied our material largely, and has
given to things that seemed to be small a great
and abiding significance. In one short essay
we can simply touch the fringe of this great
subject, but we can at least attempt to handle
it in such a way as to show the spirit of the
critical movement and the direction along which
it has run its course.

2 The Present Outlook for [chap.
I.
The nineteenth century has not been, as many
imagine, limited to the "present and practical,"
and, indeed, real science does not acknowledge
these misleading labels and arbitrary divisions ;
hence large areas have been added to this, as
well as to other spheres of knowledge and realms
of research. There are people, with considerable
pretensions to culture, who think that it is a
stupid, short-sighted policy to spend so much
of one's time over languages that are called
"dead" and over literatures that arose in the
distant past. From that point of view it may
seem somewhat perplexing that precisely in the
last century, which we knew to be so living and
modern, many able men have spent their strength
and skill in bringing to light languages and
literatures which were supposed to be, not only
dead, but doomed to everlasting forgetfulness.
But, as a matter of fact, the -life of man has,
during the last hundred years, been widened in
many directions ; if the century was an age of
specialisms, it was not itself narrow or special, but
rather marked by movements of universal range.
We cannot now discuss the full significance of
this fact, but, confining our attention to the
particular subject in hand, we venture to say
that languages which continue to live and exert
a powerful influence in spite of our laziness and

I.] Old Testament Interpretation 3
prejudice, can hardly with correctness be counted
among the dead things. Indeed, is anything
dead in God's great world except the man who
fails to respond to the inspiring influences which
stream to us from so many quarters ? Our
divisions are superficial and our labels confusing.
If it is a scientific business to dig up a fossil
and show its place in the scale of being, it is
surely a gain to science to unearth a language
which enables men to write a new chapter in the
history of humanity. Whatever, then, may be
our own particular pursuit, we should be thankful'
that some are allured into special paths of
investigation which have no attraction for us ;
and we should recognise that they as well as
ourselves are helping to complete the grand
scheme of things. The man of largest culture
would to-day hesitate to appropriate Lord Bacon's
words, " I have taken all knowledge to be my
province " ; but even if we are called to work
in a limited department, we can attempt to
pursue our special work in a large, liberal
spirit. As to the Hebrew language, the character of
Old Testament studies during the past century
has been such as to render it more than ever
necessary that those who would form a first
hand judgment upon the historical, literary, and
theological problems which are now forced upon
us, should have an accurate knowledge of the

4 The Present Outlook for [chap.
original tongue. There is no need to regret
this, or to apologise for it. The "Semitic revival "
of the nineteenth century has been remarkable,
and cannot be ignored ; it has brought with it
increased knowledge of the structure and spirit
of the particular group of languages to which
Hebrew belongs, so that the claim can now be
made with all seriousness, that as a mental dis
cipline and means of culture the study of these
languages is not to be despised. The labours
of great grammarians and lexicographers have
made available, not only a wealth of material,
but also such illuminating principles that a really
scientific method is possible. We are not shut
up to a dreary collection of details, but may
take a comprehensive view of one of the great
creations of the human mind. A really great
language shows how a particular people looked
out upon life and viewed the varied things with
which men have to deal ; to pass over into a
different family of languages and appreciate the
modes of thought of a people whose genius was
so different from that of the West, requires an
effort that must be beneficial to those who make
it scientifically and sympathetically.
We might go back to the Greek school of early
Christian interpreters, and find indications of
striving after a scientific method ; or we might
point to slight and sporadic manifestations of the
critical spirit before the Reformation ; but in a

1.] Old Testajnent Interpretation 5
brief review it is both appropriate and advan
tageous to confine our statements to the century
which has just reached its close. Speaking
broadly, we may say that a great movement in
Old Testament criticism has run its course within
the nineteenth century, and that in recent years,
vigorous efforts have been made in applying and
popularising the results thus gained. We must,
then, dismiss in one short sentence what is
worthy of an elaborate discussion, by saying that
the Reformation gave the impulse, and the
nineteenth century worked out the method.
The result is that, while changes have been
brought about, and new interpretations given
which can be understood and appreciated by any
man of average intelligence, a technical science
has also been developed, which demands, like
every other science, real, patient, and continuous
study. The complicated processes of such a
science are not fit subjects for pulpit exposition,
but they precede the preacher's work, even as a
valid science goes before every real art. The
artist must know anatomy though he never paints
a skeleton, but sets before us the fair, human form
clothed in graceful drapery. The doctor must
have studied anatomy, physiology, chemistry,
and other sciences, but he does not visit the sick
room for the purpose of lecturing on the structure
of the body or the functions of its organs. In
like manner the work of the preacher will be

6 The Present Outlook for [chap.
more effective if, behind his intelligent teaching
and passionate appeals, there lies careful consecu
tive work upon the literature which, as a rule,
forms the basis of his discourse. Further, many
men who find their vocation in the Christian
ministry have, in addition to the pastor's sympathy
and the preacher's popular gifts, a real scientific
interest ; and, without undervaluing excursions
into other realms of knowledge, we may rejoice
that there is a prospect that this side of their
mental life may find some measure of satisfaction
in the sphere of theology and Biblical criticism.
The more one makes an effort to realise how
much the nineteenth century has contributed to
make possible a real understanding of this ancient
people and its sacred literature, the more is this
thought forced upon us that the greatest tribute
to the power and significance of the Old Testa
ment is the immense and varied work that has
been lavished upon it. It would be a most
hopeless thing to regard all this toil as the out
come of scepticism and vanity, a huge specimen
of perverse ingenuity and misdirected effort.
Contributions have been made by scholars in the
leading nations of the world and from all shades
of Christianity and Judaism ; many men have
worked from intelligible and valid principles of
historical and literary study ; they have checked
or confirmed each other's results ; and, as a whole,
we may claim that they have been inspired by

I.] Old Testament Interpretation 7
love of the truth. This movement has not been
exempt from the rule that no great thing comes
to , humanity or the Church without struggle and
agony ; not without pain have men cast off
traditions that had been woven into their very
life ; not without sorrowful conflict have they
sought to make sure that in setting aside out
worn forms of thought no vital truth should be
lost. When a man once gains even a glimpse
of what this noble army of workers, not lacking
in martyrs, has accomplished, he sees that by its
very nature it must remain to the great crowd
"an unconsidered miracle," but none the less
it is to the special student a magnificent tribute
to the unexhausted and inexhaustible spiritual
influence of the Old Testament.

II.
The nineteenth century has applied to the
history and to the documents of the Hebrew
people its own magic word, a word potent in so
many departments — "evolution." The thought
represented by that popular word has been found
to have real meaning in our investigations re
garding the religious life and theological beliefs
of Israel. To admit that is one thing — and it is
often admitted in a half-hearted, superficial way ;
to realise and assimilate it is a different thing,
that, here as elsewhere, implies a living process.

8 The Present Outlook for [chap.
Men are glad to find one keyword which seems
to unlock the secrets of the world ; and there is
no need to condemn too harshly such gladness,
since it reflects, if even in a crude way, the desire
to realise the unity of things and to express the
inner principle which lies behind all life. We
cordially confess that, when construed in a living,
intelligent manner, the word "evolution" has
been found full of helpful suggestions, and has
embraced many elements of vital truth ; but we
are not prepared to make a fetish of it, or to
recognise it as an exhaustive and final word.
Our Puritan forefathers had another word which
to them was quite as important and equally dear
— the word "election." That, too, was a great
word, speaking of the supremacy of the Living
God, who orders the world in wisdom and judges
the nations in righteousness. They also were
severely logical and pressed their favourite word,
with inexorable consistency, and sacrificed, in
theory at least, aspects of the truth which we are
compelled to make prominent. Modern criticism
places us in a position to realise how, in this
particular case, the truths, expressed in words ap
parently so opposite, can be gathered up into a
fuller conception of that divine life which mani
fests itself in the processes of human development ;
as in the career of a comparatively insignificant
people we find such true and growing revelation
of the God in whom "we live and move and

1.] Old Testamejit Interpretation 9
have our being." Speaking from personal ex
perience, the present writer can say that when
the history and literature of Israel are construed
in the most radical fashion that can be justified
by a sound scientific procedure, the impression
is deepened that the very process which brings
out the evolution most clearly shows at the same
time the reality of the election. If we admit that
the Jews of later days, in handling the history of
their past, carried into ancient times the forms of
their own day, we must admit also that their
treatment of this history was ideally true ; and
the most unsparing criticism justifies it to this
extent that, unless we are sceptical in the
strictest sense of the word and find no divine
meaning at all in the world, we must confess
that these people were called of God to a great
religious vocation, and have filled with some
degree of faithfulness a God-given mission. A
learned divine once denounced the modern
reconstruction of this history as involving a very
terrible thing, namely, that which he styles, in a
dangerously smart phrase, "the inspiration of
repainting history." This Church dignitary was
not a specialist in Old Testament studies ; and
had his philosophic insight been equal to his
learning in other directions, he might have known
that there is no painting which is not to some
extent repainting ; no artist paints a picture of
the past without being deeply influenced by the

lo The Present Outlook for [chap,
forms of his own time as well as by the peculiar
ities of his individual life. If that is true to-day,
when we have succeeded so largely in developing
the " historical sense," and when we make such
strenuous, conscious efforts after a proper perspect
ive, how much more true was it in ancient times,
when men did not draw so clearly the distinction
between fact and fiction, history and poetry !
Then as to "inspiration," this quality pertains to
the spirit and not to the mere outward form ; and
we may gratefully remember that, if it is really
present, no criticism can destroy it, for criticism,
which simply means intelligent study, is an
attempt to find the eternal spirit embodied in
these ancient forms. III.
This brings us to consider briefly the mediating
nature of criticism. By this we do not mean
what has been properly called mediating or
apologetic criticism. There has, of course, been
such a thing as consciously mediating criticism
undertaken in the spirit of compromise, and seek
ing to select the best from conflicting views.
There has also been, especially of late, popular
apologetics in this department. This follows the
path of least resistance, and seeks to rob biblical
criticism of the terror that it awakens in timid
souls, by presenting the results which are most
attractive and which can be most easily assimilated.

I.] Old Testament Interpretation ii
We are not now discussing these more or less
legitimate forms of activity, but maintaining that
pure criticism, considered as a large impersonal
movement prompted by the scientific interest,
apart from the peculiarities of particular critics,
has been a great mediating force. We must try,
then, briefly to indicate the scope and meaning
of this statement.
First as to the whole book, or collection of
books. If we may be allowed to speak broadly
of the opinions of men, and neglect the special
case of those who were gifted with insight and
were the pioneers of literary criticism, we may
say that in the eighteenth century two irreconcil
able views confront each other and engage in rude
conflict. The rationalistic view regarded the
Old Testament as consisting of worthless fables
and legends, unreliable histories, and a few fine
pieces of poetry or oratory. If the book had any
value at all, it was because it did occasionally
clothe in picturesque forms the commonplace
conventional morality which was declared to be*
as old as creation. Over against this stood the
strictly orthodox view of a sacred document, each
word of which was inspired, and whose chief
value was in the evidence for the supernatural to
be drawn from detailed predictions of future
events, especially in the circumstantial descriptions
of the Messiah and His work given centuries
before His appearance. The Old Testament was

1 2 The Present Outlook for [chap.
the New Testament in type ; the external things
were different, but the internal things the same ;
or that which was implicit in the Old was explicit
in the New. This was certainly superior to the
rationalistic view, as the positive construction,
even if imperfect, is better than mere negation ;
and the orthodox dogma did at least recognise
the organic connection between the Old and the
New. Criticism, pursuing its steady course, has
not completely justified either of these opposing
views, but has enabled us to recognise, in a way
not possible a hundred years ago, the truth that
was in both of them. On the one side, it has
proved that these ancient records are not histories,
in the modern sense of that term, but that they
contain valuable material for the construction of
an important chapter in the life of the ancient
world ; it has furnished a sympathetic appreciation
of the limited yet varied literary forms through
which prophets and poets appeal to us ; and as
physical science turns to highest uses apparently
worthless things, so biblical criticism has rescued
for the student of religions as well as for the
preacher, treasures which keen-minded men had
consigned too hastily to the rubbish heap. On
the other side, criticism has fully recognised the
organic connection between Christianity and
Judaism ; but it has not favoured the crude theory
of verbal inspiration, and has treated with scant
courtesy the mechanical view of types ; it has not

I.] Old Testament Interpretation 13
found the favourite phrase " implicit and explicit "
able to do full justice to the situation. Instead
of a book containing all Christian dogmas in
mysterious forms, it gives us a study of real
development, from a simple beginning, through
the action and reaction of many living forces. It
is a complex drama, in which, in what it falls
short of as well as in what it achieves, the past
stretches out pathetic pleading hands for the great
gift of God that is still to be revealed.
The same mediating influence may be traced in
exegesis, that is, in the explanation of particular
passages or texts. There was a rude opposition
between a vulgar literalism and an extravagant
allegorical interpretation, and this could only be
harmonised by a historical method which recog
nised the principle of development, and by a real
literary interpretation which is able to do full
justice to the passionate oratory of the prophets
and the varying moods of the poets. It is said to
be one danger of the present method that it is
so microscopic, that it subjects every word and
phrase to such minute critical examination. This,
of course, is a danger if the detailed research is
not illuminated and guided by general principles
which bring the smallest part into vital relation
with the whole. The microscope is not a danger
ous instrument, in biology or Biblical criticism, if it
is used intelligently. Until this new method was
wrought out, literalism and allegorism had to fight

14 The Present Otit look for [chap.
a battle in which neither side could understand
the other. The contrast and contradiction could
only be solved by a principle that had not then
been clearly grasped. There will always remain
" the personal equation " ; the matter-of-fact or the
quick, poetic disposition will, here as elsewhere,
continue to exert an influence. But, in general, we
may say that the fanciful fashion of tearing biblical
phrases from their context and making them say
something of which the original writer never
dreamed, is more unjustifiable than ever ; because
in most cases there is a fair chance of getting at
the principle embodied in the history, prophecy,
or song in such a way that we can apply it power
fully to our modern life. The allegorical method
no doubt had its uses in enabling some of the
great ancient thinkers to solve the exegetical
problems of their own age, but in its best days it
was liable in weak hands to run into the wildest
extravagances ; and it is disappointing to find the
editor of a leading English religious journal
defending the allegorical method and disclaiming
" obscurantism " at the same time. The minister
who is prepared to give some real study to his
preparatory work is not now shut up to a false
literalism or an absurd allegory. He may learn
how the great risligious thinkers of the Hebrew
race looked out upon life, and fought its battle
in such a spirit that their words inspire and
strengthen us.

I.] Old Testafnent Interpretation 15
IV.
It is not possible to sum up in a few words the
results of such long and varied toil, but we may
briefly mention two lines of special importance ;
first, the solution of the Pentateuch problem ; and,
secondly, the restoration of the prophet. In
connection with the books which are associated
with the name of Moses, there are, no doubt, still
many questions remaining, and much room for the
investigation of historical problems ; but unless
biblical criticism is a delusion, and the work of a
century utterly in vain, the main lines of this sub
ject have been correctly marked out, and the
books which have caused so much trouble to
earnest students have ceased to be merely a per
plexing puzzle, and have become a rich treasury
for the historian and student of religions, as well
as for the preacher. The clever people who say
smart things about " the mistakes of Moses," or
declare that the Old Testament is " the millstone
of Christianity," do not frighten us now ; they are
only playing on the surface of things, and have
not grasped the real nature of the problem as
it presents itself to reverent, serious students.
When the different sections of these ancient books
are studied in their proper order, they reveal to
us the different stages of a living process, that
process which must always be interesting and
instructive, because it concerns the highest life,

1 6 The Present Outlook for [chap.
namely, the growth of a great nation in the
knowledge of God and righteousness.
Further, careful study has restored the prophet
to his proper place, by showing that he was
pre-eminently a preacher whose message was
addressed to his own age, and that this has become
a perennial message by the very power that made
it so appropriate and searching at the time — the
power of insight into moral principles, faithfulness
to fact, and loyalty to God. If it is true that this
view of the prophet was never completely lost, and
that the Puritans of three or four hundred years
ago, engaged in similar battles, appreciated it
more by reason of practical sympathy than his
torical learning ; it is also true that the teaching
given to young people on this subject thirty or
forty years ago left the impression that the
prophet was mainly concerned with predicting the
distant future, and that he was specially created
to fill a prominent place in the system of apolo
getics. The great prophets stand before us now
more noble and inspiring than ever before. We
know how they are to be distinguished from false,
time-serving, conventional prophets ; how in their
own day they bore the cross as they preached
the righteousness of God and predicted doom for
the wilfully wicked ; how they constantly looked
forward to that great day which by God's mercy
often seems so near to the eye of faith, to that
kingdom which is ever coming, but is never com-

I.] Old Testament Interpretation 17
pletely revealed or fully realised. We can under
stand, as we listen to their denunciations of shams
and their plea for a purer humanitarianism or
a nobler civic righteousness, how the modern
scientist, discontented with orthodox dogmas,
could find in these preachers of righteousness the
highest forms of religious life; but, much as we
reverence the prophets of Israel, we cannot think
that they reached finality in religious teaching ;
their glory is rather that they prepared the way
for a fuller revelation. V.
What then remains after all this shaking.''
What does biblical science hand over to the
twentieth century ?
I. A great literature which has grown rather
than shrunk under the fires of criticism. Instead
of books written by a few men, we have a great
literature into which a numberless host of living
souls have poured their noblest thoughts and
purest aspirations. In the main, and for the great
body of general readers, this book belongs to
what is called the " literature of power " ; that is,
its chief service is in keeping alive great religious
ideas, and inspiring men in their struggle, not
only with evil, but also with prosaic fact and
dead routine. Even from this point of view
the book has become larger rather than smaller.
The idea of revelation, somewhat mechanically

1 8 The Present Ovitlook for [chap.
conceived, had pressed into the background the
thought of a literature which mirrors the life of
man and reflects the guidance of God. Recently
the idea of literature has been emphasised, and,
instead of looking on every page for the same few
dogmas, we seek in the varied literary forms for
manifestations of the life of men who are eager in
the search for truth and God. These two ideas
must be reconciled by the recognition that it is
through the life of man thus reflected or embodied
that the divine revelation comes to us. Without
lessening the spiritual power, science has shown
how to the special student it may also be a book
of instruction, and contribute its share to the
history of the past.
2. Hence there remains an important series of
documents for those who wish to know how
Christianity grew out of Judaism, and in what
way the religion which we now love and seek to
live has its roots in experiences so different and
distant. How did there come forth from such an
intensely national religion a faith that is purely
spiritual and knows no distinction of clan or race ?
That must always be an interesting problem, and
it has lost none of its importance. It is a startling
change when out of the heart of narrow Judaism
there springs a religion spiritual in its nature and
universal in its range. This, we shall see, was
not so sudden as it seems ; not without long, slow,
gradual preparation involving much discipline of

I.] Old Testament Interpretation 19
national life and individual experience. This
leads us to take a scholarly interest in books not
included in the Jewish Canon, and it shows us that
there are no " silent centuries," but that we must
take a larger view of this history, if we are to
understand the glorious saying that God, who in
sundry times and divers manners spoke in times
past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these
last days spoken to us by His Son.
3. A great book for the preacher still remains,
with its historical pictures, varied biographies,
and sacred poems. Certain parts of the book
were lost to the preacher for a while ; that is, to
the preacher who possessed something of the
scientific spirit and was troubled with an "exe
getical conscience." The old view was lost, and
the new one not fully appropriated ; a transitional
period always has its difficulties. But many have
now worked themselves through into a position
where they can do justice to the demands of
science without being unfaithful to the practical
needs of religion. From the point of view of
concrete, picturesque, powerful preaching, it is
most important that the Old Testament should
not be neglected in the pulpit. In recent years,
as the effect of influences coming from various
directions, the social side of the religious life has
been emphasised. With this, of course, a true
individualism and a deeper view of the personal
life must be combined ; but the individualism

20 The Present Outlook [chap. i.
cannot be restored in precisely the old form ; the
preacher must now insist upon the relationship
of man to man ; religion must be a force inspiring
social purity and civic righteousness. Here the
prophets and teachers of Israel are near to us,
though they seem so far away ; their message
was in the main to society, and it is a message
that we can adapt to our own day. This needs
wisdom as well as courage, intelligence as well as
fervour ; but it is a high task worthy of the true
preacher who honours God and is sympathetic
toward men. If we will base ourselves upon
that which is best in the past, if we will use
wisely the results of all this painful conscientious
toil, then in the new century the Old Testament
needs neither be a sealed book nor a neglected
book, but may take, more and more, its rightful
place as one of God's ministering servants,
bringing light, joy, and peace to struggling souls.

CHAPTER II.
THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A PROBLEM.
The Bible is a book which more and more moves
our wonder and quickens our enthusiasm when
we think of its character and career. During the
centuries that have passed since the Hebrew
histories and prophecies were placed by the side
of the Christian gospels and epistles, the influence
of the book has grown in volume and intensity.
In seasons of darkness and confusion it has
ministered in lonely places to devout truth-seeking
souls ; in days of light and activity its power of
silent, helpful ministry has been enlarged, and,
at the same time, it has become a centre around
which the fiercest battles have been waged.
Men of all classes and creeds combine to render
homage to the Bible, to speak or write eloquent
eulogies concerning the mystery of its origin, the
divinity of its inspiring, uplifting power, and the
wonder of its ever-increasing influence. The
study of the different versions of the Bible is in
itself a matter of absorbing interest, and around
every new form that it assumes, new histories

22 The O.T. as a Problem [chap.
grow, and the ancient literature constantly claims
a closer kinship with modern life. The message
in prophecy, psalm, and gospel proves its power
to touch the human heart whether it is enshrined
in some world-wide language, or veiled in some
humble local dialect. This we all acknowledge ;
and we are ever ready to confess that our personal
life would be purer and stronger if we nourished
our souls more constantly and consistently on its
noble ideals, and that our national life would be
cleaner if we kept before our minds the fact that
righteousness alone is the power that gives real
stability and strength to a nation.
On this theme lectures of living interest and
far-reaching importance can be given ; but at
present it is our business to leave what is
popularly called the " practical " side and turn
our attention to other matters, which are also in
their own way very practical ; we have to face
certain intellectual questions, such as the follow
ing : What is the place of the Hebrew literature
in the life and history of the world ? How is the
interpretation of this literature affected by the
increased stores of knowledge and by the enlarged
outlook which science and philosophy have given
to the modern world? How far does critical
study of the book compel us to modify the
traditional views as to the history of the Hebrew
people and as to the growth of their literature ?
These and similar questions are forced upon us

II.] The O.T. as a Problem 23
by the needs of the situation, and we find stimulus
and instruction in examining them, even if we
cannot furnish complete and exhaustive answers.
The amount of intellectual energy that has been
spent on such questions by scholars of all nations
and of various communions during the past three
or four centuries is simply incalculable. The
workers in this department have not only been
numerous and energetic, they have, many of them,
been equal in mental capacity and spiritual insight
to the leaders in other realms of scientific research.
The motive power that has impelled and sustained
these men, whether in the quiet study or in the
more adventurous explorations, has no doubt
been a desire to increase our knowledge of the
past life of humanity, and to gain a deeper insight
into the origin and meaning of those documents
which are so closely connected with the history of
our religion.
There seems to be, however, in the minds of
many a lurking suspicion that too much question
ing with regard to sacred books and sacred things
is dangerous. Certain ecclesiastical leaders and
some popular preachers still feel that it is their
duty to warn the people against the perils of
"the Higher Criticism." In passing we may say
that the real peril of our time seems rather to
come from ignorance and stupidity, from that
utter worldliness which makes mere money-geitting
and base pleasure-seeking the real ends of life.

24 The O.T. as a Probletn [chap.
When we read the lives of men who have devoted
themselves to the pursuit of knowledge in the
sphere of physical science or in the realm of
literature and history, we are often humbled by
their stern unworldliness and their unselfish
loyalty to truth. Too often their labour has
been received with foolish suspicion instead of
intelligent appreciation.
Professor Sayce, whose great and varied
learning does not seem to encourage the dignified
self-restraint which guards against recklessness
of statement, tells us that the main motive of
criticism is to get rid of the miraculous. " ' Criti
cism ' professes not to deal with the abstract
question of miracles. But it does so indirectly
by undermining the credit of the Narratives in
which the miraculous is involved. In fact, the
presence of a miracle is of itself accounted a
sufficient reason for ' suspecting ' the truth of a
story, or at all events the credit of its witnesses.
If there was no record of miracles in the Old and
New Testaments, it may be questioned whether
so much zeal would have been displayed in
endeavouring to throw doubt on the authenticity
of their contents. We find no such display of
' critical ' energy in the case of the Mohammedan
Koran" (Sayce, Monument Facts, etc., p. 125).
We are surely not using strong language when
we say that this is a shallow, foolish statement,
and one that can only make its appeal to those

II.] The O.T. as a Problem 25
who are quite ignorant as to the nature of criticism
and the history of the critical movement. We
have certainly been taught to look to Oxford for
clearer insight and more courteous discussion
than we find exemplified in this booklet with its-
absurd title and reckless denunciation.
The man who can claim a monopoly of " facts "
and ascribe to his opponents the possession of
mere " fancies " may be well equipped for popular
controversy, but he certainly does not in this way
impress one as being endowed with that fine
discrimination and those catholic sympathies
which fit a man to balance complex arguments.
We shall be compelled to give consideration again
to Professor Sayce in the course of these dis
cussions ; in the meantime, we may point out
that it is preposterous for any one man to bring
such a sweeping charge against a movement
which has enlisted the sympathy and co-operation
of Christian scholars in all lands and communions.
In the book from which we have just quoted,
" criticism " is treated as if it meant a mass of
unreliable conjectures permeated throughout by
the spirit of scepticism, while "archaeology"
stands for an honourable science which possesses
a vast accumulation of trustworthy "facts."
There is no need to challenge this now, as our
whole discussion will be an indirect criticism of
this assumption ; and we shall utterly fail in our
present purpose if we do not succeed in showing

26 The O.T. as a Problem [chap.
that real criticism is never content with mere
negative results, but is ever seeking for a positive
interpretation of the material that it is called
upon to examine.
Is it not wiser to see in the restless intellectual
energy that expends itself on the interpretation
of this literature a noble tribute to the greatness
of the book, and, in fact, a much higher form of
reverence than the clamorous orthodoxy which
worships the shell and neglects the inner life.-*
Science, in the large sense of that word, is a
great impersonal movement that draws all realms
of life within its range, and endeavours to write
the story of God's dealing with the world and
with men in all ages. Science does not value
things as small and great according to our
personal pride or sectarian prejudices ; it places
each thing in its proper position and right
proportion. We are each apt to think that our
own sphere is noblest and most important ; and
even that thought, partial as it is, serves to
quicken our enthusiasm and sustain our diligence ;
but it is important that we should seek some
times a larger outlook, and regard ourselves as
being simply a small part of the infinite whole.
We may then rest assured that the labour and
skill which has dug up long-buried monuments,
and successfully wrested their secrets from
languages that were lost, is good for the present
world, good for science, and in the broadest sense

n.j The O.T. as a Probletn 27
for the spiritual life of men. And when we come
to speak of the labours of centuries spent upon
these few sacred pages, we do not care to strike
a balance-sheet of loss and gain ; any change
that is demanded by loyalty to truth must in the
end be real gain ; if it comes through loss or
apparent loss, this simply shows that the process
of life is the same here as elsewhere ; through
the loss of the old we pass to the new and
higher life.
From this point of view such a phrase as
"The millstone of Christianity," regarded as
descriptive of the Old Testament, is not only
unbelieving, it is absurd. This implies that
criticism must by its very nature be destruct
ive. It suggests that we can strengthen
Christianity by cutting it clear of its original
sources. This solution may be radical, but it
is too simple. It ignores the results of all the
patient, reverent toil which, while freeing us
from outworn traditions, has made the literature
even more inspiring and fruitful than it was
before. On the other hand, we have little sympathy
with those theologians who speak of a certain
abstraction called "the modern mind" as if it
were a spirit of evil, the cause of all our per
plexities, and the perverse scorner of all good
old modes of thought. However uncomfortable
it may be — and we can ourselves testify to some

28 The O.T. as a Problem [chap.
pain in the process — to feel that we are violently
shaken, or gradually moved from old positions
which we had come to regard as safe and final,
when we discriminate carefully between the things
that have fallen away and the things that cannot
be shaken, we realise with regard to this great
literature how true it is that " age cannot wither
it, nor custom stale its infinite variety."
The Old Testament is not merely a book,
though it forms part of the volume that men
have come to call, in a supreme sense, " The
Book." It is not simply a library, or a collection
of books. It is a literature in the sense ^hat it
represents a thousand years of varied, struggling
life. When carefully studied, it tells the story
of the origin of a remarkable nation and the
growth of a great religion. It contains all the
simpler literary forms, primitive poetry, pictur
esque popular stories, histories local and national,
sermons of the most living practical kind, poems
which grapple with deep problems and express
the passionate aspiration of the awakened soul.
It is this aspect of these books that has been
insisted upon during the past century, and many
attempts have been made to exhibit it to the
public in popular forms. And just here a
question has arisen which to some of us seems
now quite simple, but which has caused much
painful discussion, namely, How can the book be
at the same time a literature and a revelation }

II.] The O.T. as a Problem

29

Literature is something so very human, we may
even say "earthly"; just in proportion to its
reality is it "racy of the soil," does it reflect
human passion of every kind ; nothing human
is alien to it ; nothing is so small as to escape
its vivifying, ennobling touch. How can you
harmonise such rigid dogmatic ideas as "a
canon" and "a revelation" with a thing so
variable, subtle, and atmospheric as literature?
That question opens up for many of us a real
problem which each thoughtful man must solve
for himself. The answer to be given here will
be more appropriate and effective at the close of
our discussion than at the beginning.
Here, by way of digression, it may be allow
able to say, that to many thoughtful Christian
men it is a painful thing to reflect upon the kind
of harmonising and apologising that has been
so common in this connection. It is quite true
that men who are set to guard the treasures of
ancient truths ought not to be easily bewitched
by fascinating novelties. It is good that new
explanations, be they ever so clear, should fight
their way and win recognition on their own
merits. It is better for men to hold on for a
while to outworn theories, than that they should
lose that which really sustains the soul in its
struggle against error and wickedness. All this
is true ; but when we have said all, we have to
confess that the representatives of the Church, as

30 The O.T. as a Problem [chap.
a whole, have moved too slowly, the movement
has been too much under external pressure, con
cessions have been made too late and in a
grudging spirit. Historical criticism, which has
been called God's gift to this generation, will,
we believe, help us to place these matters on a
reasonable and fairly permanent basis. Not that
there can ever be unanimity on all points of the
history, or uniformity in the interpretation of the
literature. No sane man would ever expect or
hope for that ; but we do hope to look the whole
range of facts so frankly and honestly in the
face that there will be no need of questionable
apologies and unworthy compromise.
There is another idea that meets us when we
begin to investigate the Old Testament, namely,
that of a sacred "canon." Here again we have
the thoughts of fixedness, infallibility, and finality,
which seem so hard to reconcile with the freedom
and flexibility of a great literature. We need
not now linger over definitions of the term, or
endeavour to trace the growth of the idea. It is
evident that the beginning of literature must be
much earlier than the beginning of a canon or a
collection of sacred books. It is part of the task
of the Old Testament student to trace both these
movements, and to appreciate their historical
significance. It was not until the Christian era that all the
various parts of this collection were treated as

II.] Tfie O.T. as a Problem 31
absolutely sacred, so that an attempt was made
to reproduce with slavish exactness the features
of one particular copy. Even here we must
introduce a warning against the careless use of
analogies from the life of other nations. We now
know that there were professional scribes and
careful copyists at work in Babylon even before
Israel came into existence as a nation, but we
cannot infer from this that the same classes
existed and that the same methods were em
ployed among the Hebrew people from the
beginning of their history and through all the
various stages of their life. This history may
be roughly divided into different periods, each
having its peculiar features of political circum
stances and religious life. What the characteristic
features of each period were must be learned
mainly from the Hebrew records themselves.
Illustrations from the life of other nations should
be cordially welcomed, but we wish throughout
this whole course to make clear the fact that the
Hebrew people had a real history of their own
with a strongly marked individuality, and that
through the peculiar form in which this literature
has come to us the world has received a revelation
of God's character and of man's capability.
\\'^hen we take up the Hebrew Bible and
read the brief table of contents on the first
page, we note a threefold division, The Law,
The Prophets, and The Writings. The first

32 The O.T. as a Problem [chap.
part contains the five books which have for
centuries been associated with the name of
Moses; the second consists of histories and
prophetic writings ; the third gathers together
varied books of the so-called Wisdom literature,
the poetry and proverbs of the Hebrew people,
as well as some of the later histories. This
division is ancient, and probably corresponds to
three distinct stages in the growth of the Canon.
These stages represent important points in the
life ' of the Jewish people. After the return
from the Babylonian Exile, in the fifth century
B.C., the people formed a Church rather than
a nation, and in that capacity they canonised
the five books of Moses, as containing the law
which ought to rule their national and personal
life. Round this spiritual centre they rallied ;
and while those in Jerusalem kept alive their
religion in its old home, thus preparing the
way for the Christian faith, other represent
atives of the race in the great centres of the
world exemplified the power of the Law and
the influence of the prophets.
In the second century before the Christian
era the Jewish religion had to struggle for its
life : attempts were made to force the people
into idolatry, and to destroy their sacred books.
With division inside and persecution outside, it
was indeed an hour of darkness, well symbolised
by the lion's den and the fiery furnace. The

II.] The O.T. as a Problem 33
books of history and prophecy were not de
stroyed, but became even more precious, and
formed a second stage in the growth of the
sacred collection or Canon.
Two centuries later there was a great revival
and a great schism : Judaism stood face to face
with a new religious movement, the full signi
ficance of which men could not then fully
understand. Out of the bosom of this most
intensely national religion there went forth a
universal world - conquering faith, and in this
great hour of conflict between mother and
child the Palestinian Jews completed the list of
their sacred books and fell back proudly upon
their great past.
Thus we may say of the contents of the
Hebrew Bible, first, that this Canon was Pales
tinian. From Alexandria in Egypt there has
come to us a more extended list or larger Canon,
containing many of the so-called Apocryphal
Books. Second, that it is Protestant ; that is,
the books printed in our ordinary English
Bible correspond in number though not in
order to those contained in the Hebrew Bible,
and to the Reformers these alone were authori
tative. Protestant theologians have, in the
past, confined themselves to this "Canon" in
their search for the genuine element of Old
Testament teaching. Further, we may speak
of it as the Hebrew Canon, since all its books
3

34 The O.T. as a Problem [chap.
were written in the Hebrew language, and we
still possess copies of the originals ; while all
the other books of the larger list come to us
in the Greek language. These facts are in
themselves intensely interesting, and they remind
us of one of the most important points in the
intellectual history of humanity, the first meet
ing, the conflict and combination of Hebrew
religion and Greek philosophy. It is well for
us to remember that these stages in the growth
of the Canon, which to us are historical facts
for cool correct classification, were once living
movements full of the fire of religious passion
and national enthusiasm.
Problems arising out of this subject need to be
clearly noted, because they have played an im
portant part in the history of criticism and call
for the attention of the theologian, (i) Is the
old distinction of "canonical" and "non-canon
ical" valid, or valid in the same sense as before?
The leaders of the Protestant reformation could
make a perfectly clear distinction between the
books (the Hebrew Canon) which ought to be
used in proving the doctrines of the Christian
faith and those (the Apocryphal Books) which
were suitable only for private reading. But
the historical method has shown that the plan
of proving doctrines by texts chosen at random
from any part of the Bible is not the best way
of studying a great literature or of grasping

II.] The O.T. as a Problem 35
a great revelation. When we are tracing the
history of human thought and of God's revelation
through that thought, we must examine carefully
and reverently all the records of Hebrew life until
Christianity fulfils its noblest ideals and carries
forward its highest aims. As to spiritual
quality, we may sometimes find it hard to draw
any real distinction between say i Chronicles
and I Maccabees, or between Proverbs and the
Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach. While
the distinction drawn by the word "Canon,"
has served a practical purpose and will always
have an historical meaning, we must confess
that it has lost something of its absoluteness
and rigidity.
(2) This Canon, however, was not regarded
by the Jew as being all on the same dead level
of mechanical inspiration. "The Canon" for
the Jew, in the strictest sense, was the Law,
the Torah ; he cherished reverence, no doubt,
for other parts of the ancient Scriptures, but
he placed the Law on a pedestal of its own,
and strained the powers of language to express
his sense of its absolute, eternal perfection. The
Samaritans possessed only this part, and the
Sadducees of our Lord's day do not appear
to have acknowledged the binding power of
other parts. Among certain classes of Jews,
then, a distinction seems • to have been drawn
between different parts of the Old Testament

2,6 The O.T. as a Problem [chap.
writings similar to that which was made in later
times between the Canonical and Apocryphal
writings. The " dead level " idea, against which
criticism in its beginnings has always had to
contend, does not, then, go back to the most
ancient times ; it is the product of an age that
was neither creative nor critical.
In studying the history of criticism, we find
that one of the first things to be done was to
clear away this idea of a "dead level," and dis
prove the dogma of verbal inspiration ; which,
in its attempts to glorify the book as revelation,
destroyed it as literature. Of course there were
always bold sceptics to laugh such a doctrine to
scorn, and philosophers to prove that it was
irrational ; but we are not now dealing with those
classes ; we refer rather to reverent Bible students
who patiently showed that the Book, when
allowed to tell its own tale, did not support any
such theological abstraction. Professor Sayce
grudgingly admits that this is one of the services
rendered by criticism. He says, "The doctrine
of verbal inerrancy is Hindu and not Christian ;
and if we admit it, we must, with the Hindu,
follow it out to its logical conclusion, that the
inerrant words cannot be translated into another
tongue or even committed to writing" [Monu
ment Facts, p. 124). The influence of a dogma
is not destroyed when it is disproved ; it may
be true of men that when their brains are out

n.] The O.T. as a Problem 37
they are dead, but dogmas continue to flit about
a long time without any brains. This particular
ghost will still be found flitting over the pages
of commentaries, and giving a mystic, antique
air to modern sermons. Theologians are busy
re-stating the doctrine of inspiration, and they
rejoice that the rigid theories referred to never
received the sanction of any really great creed
or council. However that may be, this theory
was for a long time very powerful ; and its
dominion was broken not by abstract reasoning,
but by the specific criticism which has in recent
years given new life to biblical study.
We conclude this introductory statement with
the question. What then is " The problem of the
Old Testament " ? A well-known theologian has
recently published, under this title, an elaborate
attack on the whole critical movement, which
begins by telling us that the problem is twofold,
first religious, then literary. When we first
read the title of this section, we thought that
it required considerable explanation, but we
cannot feel that the explanation forthcoming
is convincing. The word " religious " here does
not seem to be quite appropriate ; its place
would be better taken by "theological" or
"philosophical." It is, of course, a question
concerning the nature of a particular religion,
and in that sense a religious question ; but this
is scarcely the specific use of the term that one

38 The O.T. as « Problem [chap.
would expect in a learned treatise. What Dr.
Orr means precisely may be stated in his own
words. He says that we must answer first the
question : " How are we to conceive ofthe religion
which the Old Testament embodies, and presents
to us in its successive stages, as respects its
nature and origin ? " {Problem of the O. T, p. 4).
That is, we have to decide certain momentous
theological questions ; in other words, we must
take sides, choosing the ancient orthodox correct
view, rejecting the modern, critical, and sceptical
way, then we can go on to the next question,
" How are we to conceive of the literature itself,
or of the books which make up the Old Testa
ment, as respects their age, origin, mode of
composition, trustworthiness, and, generally,
their connection with the religion of which
they are the monuments ? " This is surely a
strange contention. If you can settle the so-
called "religious question" first, there does not
seem to be any need to go on to the second
question at all. And Dr. Orr admits that, at
first sight, there may appear to be no connec
tion between the two ; when the fact is that
he has stated them as two separate, independent
questions. Dr. Orr's contention, that the great results of
literary criticism come from a certain theory as
to the nature and origin of Hebrew religion rather
than from a patient investigation of all the facts,

II.] The O.T. as a Problem 39
cannot be dealt with now, but strong objection
must be taken to his form of stating the problem.
A somewhat different statement is here given, in
the fewest words possible ; such proof and illustra
tion as we can furnish must be gleaned from the
trend of the whole discussion.^
As a religious book the Bible is many-sided ; it
makes its powerful appeal to all classes. When
we are using it for the sake of the inspiration
and spiritual nourishment it gives, we exercise
an unconscious criticism or selection, we turn
instinctively to the songs or sermons that meet
our needs, we are not then concerned with
questions of Biblical science. When we come
to speak of a "problem," we mean something
more than this ; the word belongs to another
region, it makes us think of mathematics or
philosophy. As applied to the Old Testament, it raises the
question, How is our treatment of the book, as an
intellectual problem, affected by the new know
ledge and changed condition of our time ? For
example, when enlightened men could still believe
that the world was created six thousand years ago,
that Hebrew was a primitive language, and that
the Hebrew people were an ancient people, then
they could hold the traditional view of the book
in whole and in detail. Not only could they
meditate profitably on Psalm and Prophecy, but
» See Chapter XI.

40 The O.T. as a Problem [chap.
the intellectual framework in which these were
held remained undisturbed. But now such a
flood of light has been thrown upon these and
similar questions that some re-adjustment is
necessary. The problem of the Old Testament
relates to the measure and character of this
re-adjustment, or, in other words, it is an in
vestigation of questions relating to the place of
this particular literature in the life of the world
and the process by which it attained to such
wonderful power. Thus we must consider the
relation of this literature to its antecedents and
its surroundings, as well as the structure of the
whole and the inter-relation of the parts. These
are literary and historical questions, and they
must be faced yf;'.?/, and out of them or in con
nection with them arise certain theological or
philosophical questions. A man who has an
intelligent faith in the living God cannot for a
moment think that there is any danger to religion
in a vigorous handling of such questions. Indeed,
we are convinced that the reverent study of such
subjects is one of the means by which our
theology will be enlarged and our spiritual life
quickened. Criticism is always seeking to find
and interpret life. To settle the date of a
particular document is only a means to an end ;
the end of this and similar operations is to re
construct a picture of the past and learn how
saints and poets of those distant days looked

II.] The O.T. as a Problem 41
out upon the world and up to the living God.
Such sympathetic communion with noble souls
of the past will enable us to see more clearly
and grasp more firmly the eternal principles.
But in so far as the Old Testament is an in
tellectual problem, the literary and historical
questions come first, that is, you must place your
picture as close as possible to its proper age, if
its features, some of which are now dim and
antique, are to yie;ld their full meaning. Just in
so far as you can correctly arrange your series
of pictures you can reconstruct the history and
interpret theology. Then you can draw rich
results to quicken theology and inspire the re
ligious life of your own time. This work should
be interesting to all who believe that religion is
something deeper than formal creeds or Church
machinery. This study is essential to the preacher
whose duty it is to interpret these ancient stories
and make them the means of present instruction
and helpfulness. Our task in these few chapters
will be to show not only how the whole horizon
has been widened and the Book set in a larger
framework and a more majestic background, but
also how, instead of shrinking under this process,
the literature has grown greater and richer in
response to the strenuous sympathetic toil that
has been bestowed upon it.

CHAPTER IIL
ARCHEOLOGY AND CRITICISM.
As we have pointed out, some work of re-construc
tion and re-interpretation was rendered necessary,
not because scholars took a malicious delight in
creating unnecessary difficulties, but because the
world had moved on, and the interpretation of
ancient literature could not possibly remain stag
nant. In connection with a subject of this kind it
is impossible to have perfect agreement as to all
the details ; even if it was a matter of pure science
we could not hope for that, much less in a sphere
where theological prejudices and religious interests
are so largely involved. As a matter of fact, there
are many important points upon which the great
majority of Old Testament scholars have reached
substantial agreement ; nearly all the recent
text-books, dictionaries, and commentaries are
written from this new point of view. Any one
who, for the first time, compares the results given
in such books with the view fprmerly held, may
think that the change has been sudden and
revolutionary, but, as a matter of fact, it has been

chap. III.] ArchcBology and Criticism 43
exceedingly slow ; we are now reaping the rich
results of the labours patiently bestowed by
scholars of many generations. We believe in
the guidance of God in this sphere also, not
guaranteeing perfect accuracy in details, but
giving to the world broader and nobler thoughts
when these were needed to unify knowledge and
quicken life. Changes in the intellectual stand
point, especially when they are so radical and
far-reaching, involve fierce controversies in the
community and powerful searching of heart by
the individual ; but surely there is something
significant when, after generations and even
centuries of discussion, we look back upon a
definite movement which has kept on steadily in
the same direction, becoming even clearer and
more convincing. (See Chapter X.) We do not
wish to overawe dissentients by the appeal to
time and numbers ; indeed, we are constantly
reminding students that they need to beware of a
new dogmatism, and to remember the claim of
criticism that it counts only such arguments as
can be appreciated and appropriated by all who
are prepared to give the time and strength which
are needed in order to gain familiarity with the
evidence. Sometimes, however, it is claimed that
there is another court of appeal ; the man who
wishes to cling to old traditions in spite of the
weight of expert evidence is told that he can
appeal to archaeology and find in it a rock of

44 Archceology and Criticism [chap.
refuge against which the proud waves of criticism
beat in vain. People in perplexity and distress
have been comforted by the assurance that,
"Whenever archaeology has been able to test
the negative conclusions of criticism, they have
dissolved like a bubble into the air" (Sayce,
Monument Facts, etc., p. 25). As for Assyriology,
"it has for ever shattered the 'critical' theory
which would put the Prophets before the Law, it
has thrown light on the form and character of the
Mosaic code, and it has indirectly vindicated the
historical character of the narratives of Genesis "
(p. 87). This is an interesting situation ; but it
is perplexing to the non-specialist student to be
told that two great fields of inquiry yield, on
important questions, conflicting and contradictory
results. By what method can we best proceed to
test this statement, so far as to form an idea of
the real state of the case? It is evident that we
cannot settle a question of this kind by any
counting of heads. Not only is that method too
mechanical when votes must be weighed as well
as counted, but it is impossible for any one person
to decide who would be entitled to vote, and to
settle the precise value to be attached to each
opinion. We would have also to discuss the
question concerning different classes of witnesses.
Professor Sayce tells us that "there are students
of Egyptian and Assyrian who have devoted
themselves only to the philological side of their

III.] Archceology and Criticism 45
subject ; and where archaeology is involved the
opinion of such students is just as valueless as
that of any other philologist in other fields of
research" (p. 14). Unfortunately this learned
critic does not tell us, in this place, exactly what
he means by archaeology, and what is included in
a science which is supposed to endow its students
with such wonderful powers. Professor Hommel,
also referring to Delitzsch, while not questioning
his standing as the founder of an exact philological
treatment of the Assy rio- Babylonian language,
suggests that his knowledge is rather of the
language than of the actual history and life of
those ancient times. We can imagine, however,
that the great Assyriologist would warmly resent
this attempt to weaken his authority as an
expounder of Babylonian life and thought. This
is not now a vital point for us save to remind
us that the word "archaeology," as used in this
controversy, is a very vague term ; that scholars
in this department, as elsewhere, have differences
among themselves ; and that the perfect archae
ologist who can settle historical questions by the
purity of his archaeology is another of Dr. Sayce's
abstractions. Assyriologists such as Zimmern and
Delitzsch accept the critical conclusions arrived
at by the great body of Old Testament scholars ;
Professor Hommel follows the methods and
accepts many of the conclusions of the critical
school, while losing no opportunity to denounce

46 Archceology and Criticism [chap.
Wellhausen's "philosophy of history"; and
while Professor Sayce spends much rhetoric in
denouncing the " Higher Criticism," his deviations
from the traditional views are so many and
various that it is difficult to say exactly where
he is at any particular time. If we were to
enlarge this list, and give names of representative
workers in different parts of the world, it would
simply show that among archaeologists or
Assyriologists there is no consensus of opinion
against the results obtained by those whose
special sphere of work had been in the Old
Testament. This is, of course, what might be
expected, because the real leaders in the study of
this literature, from Gesenius early in the previous
century to Driver of our own day, have not only
been strong in their study of the Semitic languages,
but have kept a keen outlook towards the results
of discovery in other regions. While linguistic
studies necessarily played a great part in the
preparation for their work, they have not been
mere philologists ; words to them, like other
things, have been a means to an end, that end
being the attempt modestly and courageously to
restore the picture of real life in those ancient
days. Among recent workers, think of such
names as those of Dillmann and Wellhausen,
Robertson Smith and A. B. Davidson, as
illustrating this statement. On the other hand,
philology, often highly speculative in character,

III.] Archcsology and Criticism 47
plays a great part in the works of archae
ologists of all classes, and it has to bear very
heavy burdens in historical and theological contro
versies. For this and other reasons archaeology
would form a very poor court of appeal in con
troversial matters. The remark made by a writer
in connection with a different department, that of
Christian antiquities, is quite appropriate here.
"We have tried to emphasise two points about
archaeology throughout. The first is, that it is of
great value to the historian ; the second, that it is
apt to be disappointing to the controversialist. It
will sometimes prove a certain amount, but it will
never go quite so far as the latter wishes."
{Authority and Archceology, p. 21).
The opposition attempted to be set up between
Old Testament criticism and archaeology is a
false one ; the subject-matter of the two depart
ments is similar and the methods are the same.^
It would be quite as correct to speak of Old
Testament archaeology as consisting of the study
of ancient documents and monuments, according
to scientific principles and critical methods. And
in the region that is spoken of as strictly
archaeological, when once the monuments have
been unearthed, the methods of work are the
same ; the text has to be fixed and tmnslated,
then its contents must be criticised, that is,
^ Cf. Chapter x. of The Old Testament and the New Scholarship
by J. P. Peters.

48 Archceology and Criticism [chap.
interpreted and compared with other sources of
information. If the student is dealing with works
of art or coins, the intellectual process of com
parison and classification is the same. The
setting up, in a general way, of these two branches
of study against each other is liable to create a
false impression, and it can only have the effect
of misleading those who are not accustomed to
think very carefully and clearly. The only
sensible way is, here and elsewhere, to ignore
such false distinctions, and, taking one important
point at a time, ask what informatign can be ob
tained with regard to it from any or every quarter.
If we wished, however, a general statement from
a reliable source, that of Dr. Driver would meet
the purpose. He tells us that two of those who
are most prominent in polemic against the results
of criticism, namely, Drs. Sayce and Hommel,
do not distinguish clearly between the direct and
indirect testimony of archaeology. " Examples of
the direct testimony of archaeology have been
furnished by the Books of Kings, though, as it
happens, these .have related mostly to points on
which there has been no controversy, and on
which the Biblical statements have not been ques
tioned " {Authority and Archceology , p. 144). And
again : " The fact is, the antagonism which some
writers have sought to establish between criticism
and archaeology is wholly factitious and unreal.
Criticism and archaeology deal with antiquity

III.] Archceology and Criticism 49
from different points of view, and mutually
supplement one another. Each in turn supplies
what the other lacks ; and it is only by an entire
misunderstanding of the scope and limits of both
that they can be brought into antagonism with
one another. What is called the ' witness of the
monuments' is often strangely misunderstood"
{Authority and Archceology, p. 150). This state
ment comes from a careful critic, who is noted for
his soberness of judgment as well as his accurate
scholarship. Our archaeological friends are looking
forward to still more wonderful discoveries, but it
will be time enough to estimate the value of these
when they arrive.
Suppose we ask a definite question, namely.
What is the age of the world and the date of man's
creation ? Those who attempted to compile a
chronological scheme resting on Biblical dates,
fixed this event at a point six thousand or seven
thousand years distant from the present time. The
deluge was then regarded as a literal historical
event which took place about two thousand years
after the creation. Can we go to archaeology to
vindicate the historical character of this traditional
scheme ? The answer is, that it has been rendered
untenable from all directions. Physical science,
in its various branches, teaches us that the earth
is very old, and that man and other living
creatures have dwelt upon it for countless ages.
Criticism in the strictest sense, that is, a comparison
4

50 Archceology and Criticism [chap.
ofthe Hebrew documents and the study of Hebrew
history, shows us that the chronological scheme
does not belong to the earliest Hebrew tradition,
but to the later scholastic age ; it has no claim
to Divine authority, and it does not possess the
character of an ancient contemporary record ;
it is simply interesting as showing us the thoughts
possessed by certain Jews at a particular period
concerning the age and origin of man. Archae
ology demonstrates the fact that more than six
thousand years ago civilised empires were in
existence, having a long history lying behind
them. There is no discrepancy here, the con
clusions reached by the different branches of
science point all in the same direction.
Very often, apologists, instead of facing the
need for a reconstruction of our whole view of
the Old Testament, which is caused by this proof
that Genesis does not contain a literal history
going back into the beginnings of life upon the
earth,, lay emphasis upon one point as being
opposed to critical conclusions ; namely, that writ
ing is very old, and therefore Moses might have
written the Pentateuch. We know that Israel
came into Palestine about 1300 B.C., and, so far
as we are concerned, that is the beginning of
their national life and actual history. This means
that the Hebrew people are not really an ancient
people, — Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans are now
to be regarded as comparatively late peoples, —

in.] Archceology and Criticism 51
and the Hebrew language is not a primitive form
of speech. This view is radically different from
that which was held by intelligent men a century
ago. Dr. Orr, in his recent attack upon the
critical movement, puts it thus: "The entire
perspective is altered, and it is felt that Israel
is now rather to be regarded as a people on whom
the ends of the earth had come in respect of
civilisation" (pp. 396, 397). He rejoices in
this, in so far as it brings an appreciable gain
in the breaking up of older critical theories, but
he does not seem to grapple with its far-reaching
significance in relation to the Old Testament,
though he is quite familiar with statements by
leading scholars that the question as to the age
of writing never played a great part in the discus
sion as to the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch.
If the fact that writing is very old is such a
powerful argument when taken alone, it might
enable you to prove that Alfred the Great wrote
Shakespeare's plays. But, as a matter of fact,
the age of any document is settled by a great
variety of reasons. The traditional view which
served its purpose for centuries was consistent
with itself, and it gave a well-rounded, systematic
conception ; the critical view, in its broadly
accepted conclusions, is an attempt to get an in
terpretation of the documents which does justice
to that literature, and at the same time fits into
our whole scheme of science. But the strange

52 Archceology and Criticism [chap.
mixture of old and new that is presented by some
archaeologists and apologists is very difficult to
comprehend ; many of us feel that it confuses
the issue instead of helping us to solve the great
problem. A difficulty arises here : many people
who know merely that these gentlemen, dis
tinguished scholars in their own sphere, indulge
in fierce attacks on criticism and critics, think that
they are defending the traditional views of the
Old Testament, when as a matter of fact the
modifications they are compelled to make show
that in many cases the controversy is a question
of detail rather than of principle. For example,
in his book on Ancient Hebrew Tradition,
Professor Hommel tells us that the higher critics
have virtually gone bankrupt in their attempts to
analyse the chapters and verses of the Old
Testament books ; but he admits that there are
several sources, and recognises two documents
in Genesis ; and later, when he comes to deal with
the fourteenth chapter of that book, he finds traces
of two recensions, which he prints in parallel
columns. According to Professor Sayce, the
archaeological results show that critics are foolish
in maintaining that the Biblical story of the Flood is
composite ; according to Professor Hommel {Die
altorientalischen Denkm'dler und das alte Testa
ment, p. 31), "it cannot be denied that the Biblical
story of the Deluge is made up of two different
accounts." Here are two leading archaeologists

III.] Archceology and Criticism 53
holding opposite views in detail of criticism. Of
course, in a matter of this kind, each man has
a right to his own opinion, each opinion must
stand on its own merits, and we only point to
this diversity here, among men of the same school,
in support of our general thesis, that there is no
clear consensus of opinion among archaeologists
against the results of criticism ; and that, while
the members of this particular school of archae
ologists reject some of the results generally
accepted by Old Testament scholars, they have
themselves gone far from the traditional stand
point. Dr. Hommel, while claiming to be as far as the
poles asunder from Wellhausen, says "the old
orthodox teaching as to inspiration must be given
up for ever " {ibid., p. 34) ; simply because the facts
are against it, that is, it does not harmonise with
the present condition of the Hebrew text.
Indeed, when we come to review the question
along the whole line, we shall find that the differ
ence between archaeologists and critics, even when
they do differ, is not as great as it seems. We
will not attempt any discussion in this chapter
of " the primitive history," that is, the stories
contained in Gen. i.-xi., but proceed to ask how
we are to interpret the patriarchal narratives.
On the old view these stories are literally true ;
and they give a faithful account of the origin of
the Hebrew people ; from one man, Abraham,

54 Archceology and Criticism [chap,
there sprang in a certain number of years the
twelve tribes, which after their deliverance from
Egypt were led through the wilderness into
Palestine, and formed the Hebrew nation of early
days and the Jewish people of later times. Thus
the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are cor
rect, detailed biographies of the ancestors of the
Hebrew people, fitted into a brief historical
framework which gives an outline of the history
of the world and the origin of the nations. What
is to be said now to this explanation of these
ancient stories ? One thing we may safely say,
that no scientific student in any department takes
exactly this view, that is, in the sense in which it
used to be taken.
The critical view held now by the large majority
of Old Testament scholars is, that what we have
here is not history in the strict sense, but a free
poetic treatment of certain meagre historical
traditions. The documents do not come from the
age to which they refer, but we have here popular
stories that were current among the people
centuries later, and that were finally committed to
writing ; the names and figures belong to the pre
historic age, but in a large measure we meet with
ideas of a later time. While these stories come
before us in a very personal form, so that we seem
to be reading individual biographies, we cannot
take them as the literal account of the origin of
a nation, and we cannot be sure that all these

III.] Archceology and Criticism 55
incidents actually occurred, precisely in this order,
in the lives of these patriarchs. But as pictures
of ancient Oriental life, in various forms, these
stories are true and beautiful, they are in the first
class of the department of literature to which they
belong. For simple story-telling, for pictures of
real life, the Hebrew language is unsurpassed.
As a living literature instinct with noble moral
ideals and subtle spiritual suggestion, the Genesis
narratives, with all their simplicity and childlike-
ness, reflect the deep religious life of faithful men,
and show us how God spoke to men in an age
distant and different from our own. Hence we
have in these stories at least two kinds of history.
There are many features of ancient tribal and
national history embodied or reflected in such
narratives : and scholars are seeking, in various
ways, to discover their precise significance, with
more or less success, though we have to admit
that much of the work done here is, like other
archaeological and literary researches, of a some
what speculative and tentative character. Then
there is the history of religious ideas ; we have
here the practical beliefs and theological ideas of
the early prophetic age of the Hebrew people
when these ancient stories were used as a means
of instruction and inspiration. Thus criticism
seeks to draw from these ancient pictures all
the history that lies behind them and all the sug
gestions that they are fitted to inspire.

56 Archceology and Criticism [chap.
What can the archaeologists make out of these
stories for us ? They tell us that names similar to
those of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have been
found in the inscriptions. They write chapters
entitled " Babylonia at the time of Abraham," in
which we may find all that they have learned and
conjectured concerning Babylon at the time when
Abraham is supposed to have lived ; but one can
read through these chapters without finding the
slightest trace of Abraham or anything else
connected with the Hebrew stories. A very
superficial reading of these works will soon show
that what Dr. Driver says, in the following words,
of one is true of all those attempts to show that
the monuments confirm things which they never
mention. " What Professor Sayce has done is
firstly to draw from the monuments a picture of
Palestine as it was in pre-Mosaic times, then to
work the history of the patriarchs into it (chap.
iv. of Patriarchal Palestine), and, having done
this, to argue, or imply, that he had proved the
historical character of the latter ! It is, of course,
perfectly legitimate for those who, on independent
grounds, accept the historical character of the
narratives of Genesis to combine them with data
derived from the monuments into a single picture ;
but those who undertake to prove from the monu
ments the historical character of Genesis must, at
all costs, distinguish carefully between statements
which rest exclusively upon the authority of these

HI.] Archceology and Criticism 57
narratives and those which depend upon the
testimony of the monuments ; if they fail to
do this, misunderstanding and confusion will in
evitably result. Professor Sayce, unfortunately,
often neglects this distinction ; and confuses the
illustration of a narrative, known, or reasonably
supposed to be authentic, with the confirmation
of a narrative the historical character of which is
in dispute. It is highly probable that the critics
who doubt the presence of any historical basis for
the narratives of the patriarchs are ultra-sceptical ;
but their scepticism cannot, at least at present, be
refuted by the testimony of the monuments "
{Authority and Archceology, p. 149). This is a
fair, unpredjudiced statement of the whole situa
tion. Further, when archaeologists speak of a
confirmation of the tradition, they do not really
mean a proof that the Biblical statements as to
the coming of Abraham into Palestine are to be
taken quite literally. They evidently mean that
these individual names represent the movement
of certain peoples or tribes ; this is implied in
Professor Hommel's whole treatment of the sub
ject, though his manner in presenting the supposed
facts does not always make this as clear as might
be desired. Dr. Pinches has this statement
regarding the twofold name of the patriarch :
"When, however, it was revealed to Abram
that he was to stay in the Promised Land, a
change was made in his name — he was no longer

58 Archceology and Criticism [chap.
known by the Assyro- Babylonian name Abram,
'honoured father,' but in view of the destiny
appointed for him, he was to be called Abraham,
' father of a multitude of nations.' "
" The first stratum of the Hebrew nation was
therefore, to all appearance, Babylonian, the
second stratum Aramean, probably a kindred
stock, whilst the third was to all appearance
Canaanitish. All these must have left their trace
on the Hebrew character, and, like most mixed
races, they showed at all times superior intelligence
in many ways" (Pinches, The Old Testament in
the Light of the Historical Records oJ Assyria
and Babylonia, p. 148). As a specimen of the
unanimity of archaeologists, it may be noted that
Dr. Hommel has a far-fetched explanation of the
twofold form of the name, which leads him to
reject Gen. xvii. 5 as an interpolation ; thus he
can find interpolations in the Priestly narrative
when these are required by his own theory, but
he is very suspicious of this minute criticism
when exercised by others.
Suppose we inquire of these scholars. Where
was this Ur of the Chaldees, the home from
which Abraham set out on his journey ? Ac
cording to Hommel it was in South Babylonia ;
and he has much to tell us about " the kings of
Ur " and the condition of that region in what he
calls the times of Abraham. One of his clearest
statments is, "In conclusion, I must not forget to

III.] Archceology and Criticism 59
point out that the journey of Abraham and his
family from Ur Kashdim {i.e. Ur of the
Chaldees), in South Babylonia, to Haran in
Mesopotamia, must be regarded as a kind of
prototype of that greater migration of the
Aramaic nomads which afterwards ensued from
the land of Kir into Mesopotamia" (Hommel,
Ancient Hebrew Tradition, p. 211). Dr. Pinches
has a somewhat different tale to tell ; we must
take his own statement, which is extremely
interesting from many points of view. He says :
"There can be no doubt, therefore, that the
theory that Abraham lived and passed his earlier
years at the Ur which is now represented by the
ruins of Mugheir, originated with the Jews during
their captivity at Babylon and in the cities of
Babylonia. Eupolemus, as a student of Jewish
history, would naturally get his information from
a Jewish source ; and the Jews had, in common
with most of the nations of the earth, a tendency
to attribute to their own forefathers, whom they
venerated so highly, the glory of being connected
with any renowned city or great discovery of
earlier ages. Thus it arises that Eupolemus,
following his Jewish informant, makes Abraham
to be the inventor of astrology and Chaldean
magic, and to have dwelt at Ur. It must have
been the Jewish captives exiled in Babylonia
who first identified Ur with the renowned city
Uru or Uriwa, quite forgetting that the form of

6o Archceology and Criticism [chap.
the name could not have been Ur in Hebrew,
and that there was another Ur, much more
suitable as the dwelling-place' of a nomad family
like that of Terah and his sons, namely, the
country of Akkad itself, called, in the non-Semitic
idiom, Uri or Ura, a tract which included the
whole of northern Babylonia" (Pinches, The
O.T. in the Light of the Historical Record, etc.,
p. 197). If this had no name we might imagine
it was from one of the " heretical " higher critics
instead of from an "orthodox" archaeologist.
Note, however, the candour and simplicity of the
next few lines.
" In whatever part of Babylonia, however, the
patriarch may have sojourned, of one thing there
is no doubt, and that is, that if he dwelt there,
the life which he saw around him, and in which
he must have taken part, was that depicted by
the tablets translated in the foregoing chapters."
This simply means that if we had dwelt there,
we would have seen and taken part in the life
depicted on these tablets. In this connection
there is much virtue in "if."
Now it appears from the Bible that the
traditions vary as to the original home of the
ancestors of the Hebrews. We know that later
Jewish tradition sought for Ur in Babylonia, and
the name Ur may have come down from ancient
times ; if so, it has left only a faint trace in the
Hebrew writings, compared with the strong

III.] Archceology and Criticism 6i
remembrances of their intimate relations with the
Arameans of Mesopotamia. But the fact is that
the results of archaeology do not enable us either
to prove or reject this particular tradition.
"Contract-tablets and other contemporary in
scriptions, recently discovered, bear witness to the
fact that in, or even before, the age of Abraham
persons bearing Hebrew (or Canaanitish) names
resided in Babylonia, and show that inter
course between Babylonia and the West was
more active than was once supposed to be
the case ; but nothing sufficiently direct has at
present (June 1903) been discovered to prove
definitely that the ancestors of the Hebrews
had once their home in Ur" (Driver's Genesis,
p. 142).
But it may be asked. Why do you trouble so
much about these dry and apparently unessential
details, and especially why insist upon the negative
character of the conclusions reached, when these
negative conclusions are so distasteful to many
pious people? It would be sufficient to say that
whether the point is small or great we wish to get
as near to the truth as we can, and state facts
simply as they are. Further, we must pass
through negative conclusions to a new positive
interpretation. The preacher must know some
thing about the nature of these stories and the
history that lies behind them, if he is to use them
in intelligent exposition. When he is prepared

62 Archceology and Criticism [chap.
to admit that they are not history, in the literal
scientific sense, or that the ancients had an idea
of history different from our own, he will learn
that in another sense, quite as legitimate and as
deep, they are very powerful histories ; in them
he will find the story of man's search after God
and the revelation of the Divine pity and help
fulness. Then, as an apologist, he will not make
the fatal mistake of treating the literal truth of
such stories as the essential foundation of the
Christian religion. It is sometimes argued that
if these stories are not literally true, then our faith
in Jesus Christ and in the teaching associated
with His name must be weakened. This is very
poor policy just because it is not good sense.
We may make up our minds that historical
questions must be settled by the study of history
and not by appeals to fear. There is no need to
fear the truth; these ancient stories with their
charming simplicity, their vivid pictures of life,
their descriptions of man's weakness and their
visions of God's nearness, can never be lost.
Such spiritual treasure the world will not willingly
let die. Abraham and Jacob are more to us than
actual and limited individuals could be ; they are
more than portraits, they are types and ideals.
They represent the faith and hope of a people
that, in spite of all its weaknesses, has for ages
been to the world a messenger of the Divine.
So long as men feel the vanity of mere things

IU.] Archceology and Criticism 63
and hunger after God, the faith of Abraham, the
life-struggle of Jacob, and the purity of Josq)h
can never be idle tales or empty dreams. These
stories, if they do not teU in literal form the
history of the nation's origin, have their own tale
to telL They express in powerful poetic forms
the faith that the personal career and national life
are shaped by God for the satisfaction of noble
souls and for the service of humanity. They
without us were not made perfect, and we without
them would be poor indeed-

CHAPTER IV.
ASSYRIOLOGY AND THE OLD TESTAMENT.
The critical study of the Old Testament has now
lying behind it many centuries of strenuous life,
and some of the most important results of what
we call, in the strictest sense, "the modern
movement " have stood for a century or longer.
During that century new languages have been
discovered and deciphered, and new departments
of linguistic and archaeological research have
come into being and enlarged their borders.
Much of the energy and enthusiasm manifested
in connection with Oriental archaeology was
quickened by the thought that in this region
would be found illustration and confirmation of
the sacred records of the Hebrew people. This
has had its advantages in leading large numbers
of people to take an interest in new fields of
research ; but it has not been without its draw
backs, as the calmness of scientific inquiry has
often given place to the fierce heat of popular
discussion, and the religious public has been
treated to all kinds of fantastic " confirmations "
64

chap. IV.] Assyriology and the O.T. 65
of the sacred records. This wUl, no doubt,
continue for the benefit of those whose faith in
the Bible is of the kind that constantly craves
external support ; but the subject has now grown
to such a size that any intelligent inquirer can
see that in the interests of pure science this new
field of ancient history has its own cladms, and
that those who devote their lives to its cultivation
deserve our respect and gratitude whether they
deal directly with the Old Testament or not. In
recent discussion this has been fully acknowledged,
and Old Testament students have at all times held
themselves ready to take or receive all available
help from the workers in the department of
Assyriology, and to give due credit for the same.
But they protest against the tendency to " Pan-
Babylonianism," or against the effort to swallow
up Hebrew literature and life in the great stream
of Babylonian culture and religion. That point,
however, must be reserved for separate discussion.^
AU that can be attempted now is a statement of a
more general character as to the growth of this
new science and its relation to Old Testament
criticism. In 1802, Grotefend made a beginning in the
work of deciphering the ancient cuneiform inscrip
tions, but at first the progress was exceedingly
slow; during the last fifty years, however, not
only have the actual finds of material been larger
1 See Chapters V. and VI.
5

66 Assyriology and the O.T. [chap.
and more important, but the number of scholars
engaged in the field has increased and the quality
of scholarship has improved, owing to the greater
amount of material and the more scientific
methods. This will, no doubt, continue until
several new chapters are added to the history of
mankind and many old ones are re-written.
Three new languages have been deciphered,
the Assyrio- Babylonian, the ancient Sumerian, and
the hieroglyphics of Egypt ; and thus scholars
have been enabled to reconstruct in some measure
the ancient life of nations whose material remains
had been long buried, and whose history had been
very largely forgotten. From the name of one
of these ancient empires has been taken the
designation of the most important language, and
the field of linguistic and archaeological research
connected with it.
Assyria was practically the last great Semitic
State that played an important part in the region
of the Tigris and the Euphrates. After the fall
of the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, in 606, Babylon
under Nebuchadrezzar once more came to the
front, but lost its supremacy fifty-seven years
later, when Cyrus captured that city and trans
ferred the centre of his far-reaching empire to
Susa. The history of Israel was for some cen
turies influenced by its relationship to Assyria,
and, indeed, before the discovery of these ancient
monuments, the Old Testament was the chief

IV.] Assyriology and the O.T. 67
source of information regarding the policy and
action of the Assyrian Empire. The inscriptions
and monuments from which a larger knowledge
was first gained came from the ruins of Assyrian
cities. In fact, a large part of the ancient
Babylonian literature has come to us by way of
Assyria. Hence the names Assyrian and Assyri
ology have quite naturally been applied to the
whole field of research, though the Assyrian
Empire was a young offshoot of the Babylonian
nation, and occupied only a small portion of the
territory in question, on the left bank of the
middle Tigris. " The actual seat of the civilisa
tion, its home in the narrower sense, and with
that the seat of political dominion in the old, and
the oldest time, lies farther down the stream on
the Euphrates. Since we name this country
Babylonia from its chief city, Babylon, so must
the whole civilisation — and with it the speech and
writings of the monuments — be more correctly
called Babylonian" (Winckler, Die babylonische
Kultur, p. 8).
We have, then, to remember that, while the
origin of the name Assyriology is easily explained,
it is merely a conventional term, and the subject
included under it is much wider than a literal
interpretation of the name would suggest ; it
introduces us into the wide and ever-increasing
field of ancient Babylonian history. The first
great change is that the history of the world, the

68 Assyriology and the O. T. [chap.
story of man and his action upon the earth, is
immensely extended, the prehistoric period is
already pushed back over three thousand years.
And what we find at that period is not the
beginnings of human culture, but a very elaborate
and complex form of civilisation, which has
reached full maturity and attained its distinctive
character. We find a great empire with rich
material resources, a complex social order, a
powerful military organisation, and lying behind
this a conception of the physical and spiritual
universe which is at the same time scientific and
theological. The historians tell us that two
thousand years earlier, that is, 5000 B.C., city
states were in active life throughout the region
of Babylonia, with varied forms of political and
religious life. The history of this early period
cannot, of course, be written with any fulness of
detail, even the bare outline that is presented has
in it much that is conjecture of the most uncertain
kind. But sufficient is known to show us that
men who take an interest in the history of the
human race and the growth of all forms of science
and theology, must be prepared to receive new
light and revise many of their opinions. This
applies, of course, to all spheres of historical
research that are concerned with the growth of
culture and the development of religious ideas.
It is claimed that the mythology of the ancient
Babylonians has left its mark on the literature

IV.] Assyriology and the O.T. 69
and religion of all nations. Even in unexpected
places, beliefs and customs are found which can
be completely explained only when traced back
to the birthplace of astronomy and astrology,
where they are really at home. This seems to
be proved in many cases, though the time and
manner of such borrowing are quite uncertain. It
is well known that many things which we use
without thinking of their origin, such as the
common divisions of time and space, had a
Babylonian beginning. The twelve double hours
on a watch, the association of the days of the
week with the names of star gods and similar
things, as well as popular superstitions, such as
the unlucky number thirteen, the unlucky bird
the raven, and the unlucky day Friday, find
their explanations in Babylonian astronomy.
Some things which linger with us merely in the
form of hereditary superstitions may be seen there
as part of the scientific theology of that day, or as
things that the science of those early days had
not been able to conquer completely. This being
true, it follows that, as we draw nearer in time
and place to the home of that ancient civilisation,
the signs of its influence become clearer and
stronger. Many things in the life of ancient
Greece and Rome will, no doubt, receive their
explanation from this source, without in any
sense impairing the individuality and value of
their special contribution to the world's life.

70 Assyriology and the O.T. [chap.
Speaking of the " miracle " of the life of Greece,
it has been well said, "Archceology, and Homer,
read in the light of archeeology, supply a better
reason of the seeming miracle. Hellenic civilisa
tion developed in the direction of art with such
marvellous celerity, simply because the tradition
of an earlier and high culture was still existent
among a considerable element of the population
in both European and Asiatic Greece. The
ground was prepared from of old, the plant was
alive but dormant ; models existed already ;
methods of fabric and principles of decoration
were there to be learned from others, and had
not to be evolved anew by long and painful
experiment. After a century or so of restless
ness and struggle came a time of peace in the
Greek lands, and inevitably with it another and
the greatest renascence of the endemic spirit of
art. By so much archaeology may claim to have
explained away the miracle ; it can show whence
came the vehicles of Hellenic self-expression, and
why the Hellenes employed the vehicles they did.
But, like all archaeology, it does not explain the
existence of the Hellenic spirit, or tell us whence
the Greek derived the political, the social, or the
religious ideals which lifted him above his fellow-
men. And .so in this microcosm, as in the
universe, we come back to miracle. We trace
back the circumstance and the house of life, but
not life itself " {Authority and Archceology, p. 250).

IV.] Assyriology and the O.T. 71
These wise words can, with the necessary
modifications, be applied to the discussions in Old
Testament history, and they show why we ought
to welcome any new light bearing on either words
or facts, on the literary evolution or the political
development. No one can really explain away
the wonderful manifestation of the religious life
among the Hebrew people, or by any process of
sound reasoning lessen the value of its peculiar
contribution to the life of the world. The efforts
that are made to get at the heart of this mystery
show us how much there is to explain and to
bear testimony to its real greatness and abiding
significance. If we are impressed by the
"miracle" that lies behind, if we feel that we are
here in the presence of a peculiar manifestation
of the Eternal Spirit, there is all the more need
to pay devout attention to the form in which this
throbbing, growing life finds its way into the
history of the world.
Hence, when Professor Hommel reminds us
{Ancient Hebrew Tradition, Preface, p. xv) of the
great wealth of material in the form of ancient
inscriptions that need careful study and classifica
tion, and suggests that "the younger school of
Old Testament theologians " should leave barren
speculations as to the source of this or that
fraction of a verse and devote themselves to these
new first hand sources of knowledge ; we are
driven to say that, while all light from outside

72 Assyriology and the O.T. [chap.
sources must be ever welcomed, Hebrew literature
is itself an important field which will always need
special study. We trust, then, that while the
younger men will be able to take a larger outlook,
they will not make Old Testament criticism a
small subordinate division of Babylonian history.
The statement from the same source, that "it is
from external evidence, therefore, that the final
decision must come," is also a very questionable
one, and will bear considerable explanation and
criticism. Without entering into any discussion
of this question, we may point out (i) that the
political development and religious life of a people
must be interpreted from its own documents ; and
(2) concerning facts of history which might be
affected by external evidence, Assyriologists
do not give harmonious evidence. (Compare
Winckler's position with that of Hommel and
Sayce.) This boasted "external evidence" is
often a wonderful network of conjectures woven
out of a variety of uncertain " facts " ; like all
other evidence, it can be interpreted through the
dogmatic prepossessions of those who handle it.
The statement of this apostle of external evidence,
that " it has been the ill-fortune of the higher
critics to elaborate and perfect their historical
theories without paying any serious attention to
the results brought to light by Assyriologists and
Egyptologists," is scarcely correct. Of course,
Old Testament scholars of the last generation

IV.] Assyriology and the O. T. 73
were ignorant of the archaeological discoveries of
our day, just as we must do our work in ignorance
of the future discoveries ; but this does not by any
means prove that the work of earlier scholars was
in vain. On the other side, we have seen harm
done by hasty and ex-travagant appropriations of
these new "results." We cannot forget that the
Jerahmeel theory, which has left its trail all over
the Encyclopedia Biblica, and has caused the
great services of Dr. Cheyne to be almost forgot
ten in the laughter and contempt which this fad
has provoked, came to us from the archaeological
quarter. It was simply a violent attempt to
apply a theory based upon the external evidence
to the complete reconstruction of the text and
history of the Old Testament. We wish at this
particular point to avoid even the appearance of
controversy, but we are compelled to utter a
protest against the idea that the Assyriologist, as
such, can do the work of the Old Testament
critics, or that Assyriology can, in any easy
fashion, save us from the dangers of reckless
conjecture and hasty judgment.
The Old Testament, which stood alone in the
darkness that encompassed the distant past, has
now received a background and an atmosphere
in which it can be more intelligently studied.
Professor Delitzsch states this clearly in the fol
lowing paragraph, and its truth is not questioned
by any Old Testament scholars. "The Old

74 Assyriology and the O.T. [chap.
Testament formed a world by itself till far into
the last century. It spoke of times to whose
latest limits the age of classical antiquity barely
reached, and of nations that have met either with
none or with the most cursory allusion from the
Greeks and the Romans. The Bible was the
sole source of our knowledge of the history of
Hither Asia prior to 550 B.C. ; and since its vision
extended over all that immense quadrangle lying
between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian
Gulf, and stretching from Mount Ararat to
Ethiopia, it naturally teemed with enigmas that
might otherwise have tarried till eternity for
their solution. But now the walls that formed
the impenetrable background to the scenes of
the Old Testament have suddenly fallen, and
a keen invigorating air and a flood of light
from the Orient pervades and irradiates the
hoary book — animating and illuminating it the
more as Hebrew antiquity is linked together
from beginning to end with Babylonia and
Assyria." -^
This means, as we have stated before, that the
discoveries of the nineteenth century have sup
plied the political background and the general
literary and religious atmosphere in which the
Old Testament has to be placed ; but, as we shall
see, there is room for a great variety of opinion
when we try to settle precisely in what way
^ Babel and Bible, p. 3.

IV.] Assyriology and the O.T. 75
Hebrew life is linked to that of Babylonia. Old
Testament critics of the modern school are quite
prepared to admit that many imperfect elements
clung to Hebrew religion, and they are willing to
number among these the exclusiveness which
marked one side of the religion ; further, they
rejoice to learn that there were so many noble
elements in the religion of ancient Babylonia ;
but they maintain that, when all allowances have
been made for the powerful influence of pre
existing civilisations and neighbouring nations,
the Old Testament tells a clear story of the
independent development of a wonderful people
and a noble faith. In other words. Old Testa
ment students are jealous for the originality of
this great literature to which they have given
their time and energy, and they are prepared to
prove that the tremendous power of the Hebrew
faith comes out more clearly as we observe the
way in which it uses common Semitic forms of
story and song.
Professor Delitzsch has, no doubt, rendered
good service in calling popular attention to the
fact which has all along been recognised by
students, that these new and larger discoveries in
ancient Oriental literature must shed light not
only on the general situation out of which the
Old Testament grew, but also on details of geo
graphy, language, history, and theology. If we
are to read with keen appreciation the records

76 Assyriology and the O.T. [chap.
of the life of the Hebrew people, we must enter
as deeply as possible into Oriental methods of
thought and expression. But surely this distin
guished scholar goes a long way when he says,
"Why Jesus chose the Samaritan to be the
pattern of the universal love which should encom
pass all men and nations without distinction, can
now be fully comprehended for the first time."
The parable to which he alludes does not seem to
gain anything in meaning and force from the
obscure ethnology that is here tacked on to it.
After maintaining that in the Code of Hammurabi
love and mercy came to their rights, he says, "In
fact, why waste further words, when it was shown
at the beginning of the lecture that the Samari
tans are really Babylonians as far as character
is concerned, and that the Jews pass for
Kuthaeans, that is, really Babylonians ! Jesus
Himself has erected a monument to universal
neighbourly love, an ideal- of the Babylonians,
great-hearted in this point, too, in His divinely
spiritual parable of the Good Samaritan, which
towers perceptibly above the whole terrestrial
globe ! Yes, indeed, not only do Babel and
Bible clasp hands in brotherly fashion whenever
in the wide world Samaritan service is rendered,
but the Babylonian has been set up by Jesus as a
pattern for all mankind : ' Go and do likewise ' "
{Babel and Bible. Three Lectures. Open Court
Pub. Co., p. 202).

IV.] Assyriology and the O.T. 77
Another illustration of this kind of extra
vagance may be cited from an Assyriologist of
a different type. Dr. Pinches seeks to cast some
light from this quarter on the interpretation
of the phrase "sons of God," Gen. vi. He
tells us that the Babylonians often used the
phrase " a son of his god " to designate a just
man or something similar ; and so " sons of
God" in the Hebrew passage may mean pious
men ( The O. T. in the Light of the Historical
Records of Assyria and Babylonia, pp. 85, 115).
To this we would reply that the Babylonian
phrase, even if it is correctly interpreted, is not
exactly the same ; and second, the Hebrew phrase
should be explained from the Hebrew usage.
But after we have taken the trouble to make
this reply we find that after all the real Baby
lonian usage seems to be the same as the
Hebrew, for a few pages farther on we have
the phrase "sons of Babylon," meaning a
Babylonian, just as "sons of God" means
beings having the nature of God. Of course
it is quite clear that the ancient records do,
in a great variety of ways, throw light upon
the Hebrew Scriptures ; but in these investiga
tions we must clearly discuss each point on its
own merits, and not press the material too hard
to make it conform to our own views. One
man may manipulate the material in a some
what one-sided fashion because he wishes to

78 Assyriology and the O.T. [chap.
apologise for the Old Testament, and another
may do the same thing because he wishes to
glorify Babylon. It is evident that the " external
evidence" from this sphere cannot be very
powerful to settle important questions of Biblical
criticism until there is more unanimity among
those who furnish the evidence. Surely the same
evidence does not justify the view that the
patriarchal stories are substantially historic, and
the opposite view that they are a series of astral
myths? The Old Testament specialists are
patiently seeking to disentangle all the threads
of the history, and they protest against the
attempt to merge the life of Israel in the great
stream of Babylonian culture.
We may conclude with a concrete illustration,
a brief reference to one of the most important
discoveries of the last century. In 1887 some
fellahin were digging at Tel el-Amarna, about
170 miles south of Cairo, and came across a
collection of over three hundred clay tablets
written in the Assyrio- Babylonian language.
Soon it was seen that there was here a
wonderful treasure, in fact a body of diplomatic
correspondence belonging to the fifteenth
century B.C. This Tel el-Amarna was the
site of the new capital built by Amenophis iv.
as a centre for the worship of the Sun-god, of
which he was an enthusiastic adherent. This
particular king of Egypt has special significance,

IV.] Assyriology and the O.T. 79
as he represents an attempt at religious reform.
It was because of his striving after a kind of
monotheism in honour of the Sun-god that he
founded this capital in place of Thebes, where
rank polytheism prevailed. The new royal
residence was called "the horizon of the sun's
disk," and the king rejoiced in the name "light
of the solar disk." Of course, there was the
usual reaction which comes after premature
religious revolutions, and the ancient city of
Thebes soon recovered its former glory and
influence. Nearly all these letters were ad
dressed to the Egyptian emperor ; thirty-six of
these, which contain a quarter of the whole
correspondence, came from the rulers and peoples
of independent countries, as Babylon, Assyria, the
Hittites, Mitanni, etc. ; the other two hundred
and sixty were sent by governors in Palestine,
Phoenicia, and Syria, which were nominally de
pendent on the Egyptian king. Thus we are
privileged to look into the correspondence of an
Egyptian Pharaoh who lived and struggled with
political and religious problems some 3400 years
ago. This must, of course, be interesting and
useful to the historian whether it bears directly
on the Old Testament or not. If we are simply
content to accept a certain amount of clear in
formation as to the political condition of Palestine
at that remote period, we shall find a flood of
light ; but if we allow ourselves to be overpowered

8o Assyriology and the O.T. [chap,
by an apologetic interest, we shall find ourselves
entangled in hopeless obscurities.
Dr. Boehmer, a German pastor who writes in
a journal which is set for the defence of the faith,
declares that there is much caprice in the apolo-
getical treatment both as to readings and explana
tion ; many find all kinds of Biblical names and
relations simply because they want to find them.
One illustration of this may suffice. Hommel
quotes from one of the letters written by the
King of Jerusalem, " It was not my father, it was
not my mother, but the arm of the mighty king,
that placed me in my ancestral home." Then he
gives the following wonderful argument : ( i ) There
is a statement in Heb. vii. that Melchizedek
was " without father and without mother," and as
this does not occur in Gen. xiv. i8, it applies
either to a different version of that text or an
independent oral tradition which applied this
phrase to the ancient officer of the priest-king.
(2) The phrase "mighty king" in the letter
reminds of the phrase mighty God, El Elyon,
in Gen. xiv. (3) Therefore the letter throws
light on Gen. xiv. and receives light from it
{Ancient Hebrew Tradition, p. 154 ff.). We are
very glad to receive light on Gen. xiv., but this
contribution is of a very doubtful character.
(i) According to Professor Hommel's own view.
Gen. xiv. refers to a period nine hundred years
earlier than the letter. (2) There is no proof

IV.] Assyriology and the O.T. 8i
that the King of Jerusalem referred to in the
letter was a priest ; and (3) there is no mention
in the letter of " God Most High." In fact, the
whole construction is a fine specimen of lawless
exegesis and unrestrained conjecture. On the
significance of the phrase "without father," etc.,
cf. Flinders Petrie, Syria and Egypt, etc., p. 138.
Here as elsewhere, when we take a specific
case we find that it is rich for instruction and
illustration but poor for the purposes of contro
versy. For instance, Palestine appears here, as
in the Old Testament, to be a country divided
into a number of tiny States, each having as its
centre a fortified city, while the weak places are
open to attack by marauding bands. Egypt has
the character that we have learned to know from
the Hebrew story, a great power with rich re
sources, but slow to move and often unreliable,
generally disappointing those who trust in her.
Points of this kind might be multiplied, but they
are points no sane man has doubted. If we wish
to settle the precise date of " the Exodus," or to
find out where the Hebrews were at that date,
the " external evidence " fails us, and we are met
by a bewildering variety of different opinions.
The " Habiri " are mentioned, but who are they ?
Are they Hebrews, or Hittites, or an earlier
immigration of tribes related to the Hebrews, or
confederate bands, mercenary marauders having
no necessary connection with the Hebrews ? We
6

82 Assyriology and the O.T. [chap.
would like a definite, convincing answer to that
question, but there is no unanimity among the
critics. We have, however, abundance of information
concerning the general situation. Palestine is
politically dependent upon Egypt, but the power
of the over-lord is weak, his vassals are feeling
the pressure of invaders, and call pathetically to
him for help. The Egyptian supremacy is giving
way ; there is nominal headship but no effective
control. This same region is from the point of
view of civilisation and culture under Babylonian
influence ; the language in which the correspond
ence is written tells us this ; the Assyrio- Baby
lonian language has the position that was taken
at different times by Aramaic, Latin, and French ;
it is the channel of diplomatic communication.
This does not mean that all the people are scribes
and scholars, or that life in Palestine and Syria is
a mere duplicate of that of Babylon.
We learn that Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, and
Mittani are the great powers of the then civil
ised world ; and the kind of " concert " that they
form is not unlike that of later times, when
nations profess to act in unity while secretly
intriguing, for their own hand. As a picture of
political life, these letters are full of interest, and
in some things they do not seem to be so many
centuries away. We find that the court officials
are careful and business-like in their habits, keep-

IV.] Assyriology and tPie O.T. 83
ing a proper record of the correspondence confided
to their care. Kings use courtly phraseology to
each other, and are punctilious in their obser\'ance
of form ; one wishes to know why the King of
Egypt's name is put before his, and enters into a
long expostulation, only part of which has been
preserved. There is the extravagant language
of loyalty, real or pretended, which addresses the
king as if he were a god ; he gives life or death,
he is the life-breath of his dependants ; he is the
sun which day and night, according to the ordi
nances of his father Shamash, arises on the land.
Kings greet each other as brethren, and make
passionate declarations of friendship ; they ex
change embassies, and marry into each other's
families ; they are anxious to receive gifts of gold
and precious stones, and on these subjects their
speech is more outspoken than that which courtly
etiquette of the present time would tolerate.
Thus it is a living world into which these letters
introduce us, big in its own way though smaller
than that of our own time, for in our days science
has given a certain unity to the whole earth. In
those days communication was slow and difficult ;
the civilised world was in a small compass, but
travel was dangerous, roads were bad, and on the
borders of each kingdom there were lawless bands
of desperate men. It is an official societ}- of
which we have the picture, and there are many
signs of meanness and corruption in it ; still, as

84 Assyriology and the O. T. [chap. iv.
we look at it we feel that the problems of life were
very similar to those which we have to face. If
from this very important discovery we cannot
answer most pressing questions, or find an easy
settlement of our critical controversies, we can, at
least, gain a view of life's battle in that distant
land and time to which we owe so much. It is
not by any means a golden age in the spiritual
sense, though the literal gold was as much wor
shipped then as now ; and when we think of all
the advantages that we enjoy after three thousand
years of toilsome progress, we ought to say with
gladness and gratitude that the lines are fallen
unto us in pleasant places, and we have a goodly
heritage.

CHAPTER V.
BABYLON AND THE BIBLE.
Those who have the slightest acquaintance with
the histor)- of Israel and the phraseology of the
Old Testament are familiar with the conflict and
contrast between the small struggling kingdom of
the Hebrews and the proud Babylonian Empires.
The bitter song of the exiles who sat and wept
by the waters of Babel has made its appeal to
sjinpathetic hearers through many centuries ; and
the pathetic en,-, " How shall we sing Yahweh's
song in a foreign land ! " has stirred generations
of men to pity and thoughtfulness. It is simply
a continuation and extension of the Old Testa
ment outlook when we use "Zion" ais the
symbol of the kingdom of God, the communit)-
formed of those who love truth and righteousness,
and in the same breath speak of " Babj^Ion " as
the representative of those worldly forces that are
specially selfish, arrogant, and cruel Thus we
still sing of the militant Church, and lament that
"Zion in her angfuish with Babylon must cope."
This contrast, in the severe sharpness with which

86 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
we are familiar with it, comes to us from the Old
Testament, and from the Apocalypse of St. John,
where Jerusalem is the name of the ideal city
that comes down from God out of heaven, and
Babylon stands for the arrogant Roman oppressor
for whose punishment the saints can justly cry
out, and over whose downfall they may exult
with righteous joy. There is something of the
same temper six hundred years earlier, when the
Prophet of Consolation calls upon "the virgin
daughter of Babylon " to sit in the dust, and
declares that she shall no more be called " The
lady of kingdoms " ; and when, in words that
have been so richly illustrated in recent dis
coveries, he invites her to read her fate in her
own scriptures, her own book of destiny : " Let
now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly
prognosticators stand up and save thee from the
things that shall come upon thee" (Isa. xlvii.
13). Indeed, when we remember that the
northern tribes of Israel were broken and
scattered by the might of Assyria, and that the
Jewish nation was crushed by Babylon, we can
sympathise with the feeling of antagonism and
to some extent with the cry for vengeance (Ps.
cxxxvii.). Under the circumstances we are
surprised that the bitter conflict has not left a
deeper mark on Hebrew literature. We admit,
of course, quite frankly, that this contrast
expresses the Hebrew point of view ; for our

v.] Babylon and the Bible 87
purpose, it is sufficient if it sets forth an important
truth, and does justice to a real situation ; no
thoughtful man would now dream of taking it in
an absolute, unqualified sense. If any are so
disposed to take it, they must now meet a strong
challenge from the modern champions of the
ancient Babylonian Empires. Some of these
think that in the light of brilliant researches
and unexpected discoveries they can easily turn
to ridicule the exaggerated claims of Israel with
all its proud religious pretensions and fanatical
intolerance. This question needs to be faced calmly and
looked at impartially from all sides. No real
student would ever think for one moment that all
the virtues were embodied in Israel, and that
Babylon was the incarnation of all the vices.
The fiercest bigot has never gone to that length ;
and we cannot attribute such a thought to en
lightened prophets and poets. But when all
light from sources ancient and modern has been
thrown upon the subject, it is still possible to
maintain that there is historical justification for
linking the religious ideal with the name of Zion,
while Babylon stands, in the main, for worldly
science, military organisation, and commercial
success. In our own time the contrast between
" the Church " and " the world," the " sacred " and
the "secular," may be conceived in a mechanical
manner, distorted by narrow prejudice or warped

88 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
by shallow bigotry, but there is something real in
the contrast; the things thus opposed express
different aspects of life, which unfortunately may
come into violent opposition.
The Hebrew prophets, in the hour of their
nation's sorrow, believed that Assyria and Babylon
having served their God-appointed purpose would
fall to ruin and decay, while Israel would come
through the furnace of affliction possessing a larger
life and a richer experience. History has surely
justified this confidence ; but more important for
us than the fate of particular nations is this
splendid faith, that religious sentiment and moral
character are essential to national greatness. The
monuments and inscriptions which testify to the
intellectual culture and military power of those
ancient nations only make the prophetic sermons
the more impressive.
The Hebrew literature, in which we find these
prophecies of the destruction of the ancient
empires, has, in modern times, helped to bring
back their buried life ; for, while !this department
of history and archaeology is now a large
independent realm, in its earliest stages it owed
much to the enthusiasm and self-denial of men
whose supreme desire was that all possible light
should be shed on the life and literature of Israel.
Perhaps we may now say that this debt has been
paid back with large interest when we consider
that the language, history, and religion of Babylon

v.] Babylon and the Bible 89
have thrown such a flood of light upon the
Old Testament, and have thus enabled us to
understand more fully the forms in which its
sacred message is enshrined. Thus the lives of
nations are strangely blended, and even in their
antagonisms they minister to each other and to
the life of the world. It is now proved that
elements from the life of Babylon have been
handed down in scientific or popular forms, and
have, in many ways, entered into common
experience ; so that, though these proud empires
were swept away, and the monuments of their
splendour covered with dust, yet their life was
not completely lost, some imperishable thoughts
and important truths lived on when their source
was quite forgotten. On the other hand, there is
a significant fact, important in the highest degree
for those who wish to see the whole subject in
the clear light. During those long silent years,
when the cities of Babylon were buried, and,
except for a few references in Greek and Hebrew
literature, forgotten, the Old Testament was
delivering its message to many nations, and
making its contribations to the life of humanity.
It spoke of the Power that makes for righteous
ness, and called upon men to believe in a living
God who is the guide of history and the judge of
nations. Something out of this wonderful book
has entered into the world's noblest life, and
though we may need to re-adjust our ideas on

90 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
many points, this fact of effective living ministry
will always gain recognition from fair-minded
men. Individual expositors may yield to pre
judice and partiality on one side or the other, but
the great world will see that substantial justice
is done. We rejoice that these new chapters are about
to be written, and we wish success to the scholars
who are working so earnestly at this immense
and ever-increasing body of new material. We
cheerfully acknowledge that the story of ancient
Babylonia has its own interest and significance ;
there is something marvellously attractive in
these pictures of social and religious life in times
so far remote from our own. Long before Israel
appeared upon the stage of history and received
the training for her God-appointed task, devout
and scholarly men had found manifestations of
God's will in the regular order of the heavenly
bodies, as well as in the strange longing of
their own hearts. Babylon is ancient, scientific,
imperial, and cosmopolitan ; Israel is compara
tively young, politically it is provincial, socially
it is not brilliant, in the realm of science it is
narrow and dependent ; yet when we lay stress on
these limitations we only cause the peculiar glory
of this nation's life to stand out more clearly ; it
has its own individuality ; its real leaders are men
of genius, their ambition is to speak in the name
of the eternal King, they hear the Divine message

v.] Babylon and the Bible 91
and claim for it the supreme significance. The
truth of this statement is in no wise lessened by
the fact that Israel owed a debt to the earlier
civilisation which had its home in Babylon, and
used forms of thought and language that had
been prepared by previous centuries of toil, while
never capable of appropriating that culture in all
its fulness and complexity.
It is important that this question of history and
life should be fully discussed in a fair and im
partial manner ; there is no need to be anxious
about "the nimbus of the chosen people" (cf the
Kaiser's Letter, Babel and Bible, p. 124), in so far
as will has any reality, that it take care of itself.
Whether we are Jews or Christians, we do well to
show an intelligent loyalty to this great literature,
and not shelter ourselves in any blind, bigoted
fashion behind the glories of a bygone age. But
we cannot profess that the Hebrew religion is no
more to us than any other religion ; in studying
its genesis and growth, we must use the most
scientific method of which we are capable ;
however, there is no need on this account to
forget that our own religion has an organic
connection with the ancient faith, and that in
a very living sense we are children of the
Bible. The interest and enthusiasm quickened
by this thought will not only inspire thoughtful
reverence, it will lift our science into a spiritual
atmosphere, and thus help us towards a sym-

92 Babylojt and the Bible [chap.
pathetic interpretation of the life and literature
to which we owe so much.
What, then, must be our attitude in the face of
the new Babylonian flood ? Or, in other words,
can we follow without reserve those who would
make Israel a mere province of Babylon ? This
has been the subject of continuous and heated
discussion, especially in Germany ; and, while much
of the controversy has been popular in character,
yielding no new scientific results, yet, like all
storms, it has tended, in some measure, to clear
the air, so that those who look calmly may see how
the real current of criticism runs. The mechanical
view of inspiration has again been discredited and
disclaimed, but there is no need to enlarge on that
familiar fact. The influence of Babylon on the
Old Testament has been emphasised, and, as we
think, exaggerated by scholars of various shades
of thought. The great body of Old Testament
specialists, while maintaining the need of keeping
an open mind towards all new discoveries, have
sought to defend the original strength and the
organic unity of our sacred book. This they
have done not from any mere policy of com
promise, but on the basis of their continuous and
intimate study of the literature as a whole, and
the relation of its different parts. If we once
see that there is a living connection between the
conceptions of truth at particular periods, or, in
other words, if we believe in a religion that grows.

v.] Babylon and the Bible 93
a revelation that advances in clearness, we shall
be able to admit outside influence on the form in
which these truths are expressed without believing
in a slavish borrowing or copying. The answer
then to " Pan-Babylonianism," in so far as this
has any reality or oppressiveness, is to be found
in criticism as a whole, in a study which passes
beyond mere words and details to a clear con
ception of the general movement. Here is one
good reason why the preacher who expounds
particular texts from the ancient book should
seek a clear view of the character and spirit of
this whole historical movement in its relation to
the life of the world ; if he is not a mere lecturer
on history, there are many subjects that he must
treat in the light of history.
There is no longer any possibility of turning
away from this discussion by laying stress upon
the difficult nature of these newly discovered
languages, the imperfect condition of many of
these inscriptions, and the general unreliability
of results and theories based upon these uncertain
sources of information. So far as the outsider
can judge, the greatest difficulties and the most
delicate linguistic discussions gather round the
proper names. In the hands of careful scholars,
even imperfect documents may render great
service ; here, as well as elsewhere, imagina
tion needs to be kept in check by sober rejason.
Infallibility is not to be expected here ; ex-

94 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
aggeration was common enough in Babylon, and
lying is not exactly a modern invention. But
when fair qualifications have been made and
proper warnings given, we know that there is
a large and increasing quantity of new historical
material which in the hands of careful scholars
will be classified and interpreted so as to cast
great light upon those distant periods which
had formerly to be regarded as prehistoric. We
do not believe that any important " result " will
in the long run be accepted unless it can bear
the fire of expert criticism from many quarters.
When any sphere of research calls into play the
intelligent activity of many earnest students, the
peculiarities of individual scholars are checked by
the general search for truth. All we can do is
to compare the conclusions of specialists on each
important question, and discuss every point fairly
on its own merits. This is not easy, and, in the
meantime, some interesting details may be left in
a state of uncertainty ; but, as it is a genuine
attempt to get at the bottom of things, it is
better than narrow fanaticism or light-hearted
dogmatism. Neither is there escape on the old theological
line, which attempted to explain all similarities
between Babylonian literature and the Bible from
the idea of a "primitive revelation," which is to
be found in the Bible in purer, more original
forms, and elsewhere in distorted and degraded

v.] Babylon and the Bible 95
shapes. In the present discussion, this venerable
phrase, which indeed belongs to an antiquated
theology, must be regarded as out of court, as
this is an inquiry which must be kept as far as
possible within the sphere of historical investi
gation and comparative literature. Speculative
questions as to the nature of revelation cannot
be handled directly, but one thing must be con
ceded, namely, that any theological conceptions
that are closely bound up with the old system of
chronology must be revised in the light which
physical science and archaeological discovery have
thrown upon the age of the world and the life
of man.
In a certain sense, we may say that the Hebrew
nation was born about thirteen centuries before
the Christian era ; the history of the nation and
its religion begins at that time. For the earliest
period the historical material is scanty, and leaves
us in uncertainty on many points. From the
days of David and Solomon downward, there is
more material to be used for a critical recon
struction of the history. The poetic stories
in Genesis which relate to the pre-Canaanite
period probably contain traditions reflecting the
early experiences of the tribes in and outside of
Palestine ; naturally the work of disentangling
the substance of this tradition from the forms
of later days is a delicate operation which does
not often lead to certain results. Still the work

96 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
done in the department of Hebrew history during
recent years has been rich in interest and stimulus.
While we can never hope to reproduce with pre
cise accuracy the life of the distant past, it is
probable that our picture of that past, both in its
political and religious aspects, approaches more
closely to the reality.
Coming back, then, to our specific subject, we
note that the fact is generally recognised that
for centuries before the Israelites came into the
country, Palestine was under Babylonian influence.
This does not mean that exactly the same stage
of culture and the same forms of religious thought
and customs were to be found here as in Baby
lonia ; there was, no doubt, local character and
colour that could never be completely crushed by
a foreign scheme of thought. Ideas and usages
travelled from the great centres of civilisation ;
this was all the more natural as the Babylonians
were an older branch of the race from which
came the Hebrews and the earlier inhabitants of
Syria and Palestine. The Hebrews could not
pass from the nomadic to the settled state, and
come into contact with new circumstances and
culture, without undergoing great changes in
their national and religious life. Historians tell
us that the strength of the civilisation in ancient
Babylon was such that, though the country was
several times overrun by new, hardy tribes, yet
this civilisation held its own, and even subdued

v.] Babylon and the Bible 97
the new-comers, so that they assimilated the
Babylonian science and religion.
The case of Israel is different : the people
come into a new land, a land where a certain
type of Semitic religion prevails, and where Baby
lonian influence has been exceedingly strong, and
they are not conquered in the spiritual sense ;
they build up a nation with remarkable individual
character ; their religion refuses to conform to the
common type. This is an actual fact ; its reality
and significance are not lessened when we recog
nise that the popular religion in Israel often
became weak and coarse, and that even the
prophetic religion had higher and lower stages,
containing within itself conflicting and apparently
contradictory elements. This is merely io say
that it was a living, growing religion, solving prob
lems within itself and contending with dangers
from without.
It is difficult to form a complete and systematic
sketch of the theological ideas of that early time ;
but we know that it was under a religious impulse
that the tribes were united for the conquest of
the country; and that each forward movement
was religious as well as political in its character.
Hence we are driven to the conclusion that here
was a religious faith possessing a certain intel
lectual simplicity and moral superiority. Such a
faith must either grow and expand, or die. It
was not possible to escape the influence of
7

98 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
Babylon and Egypt ; still less to flee away from
the atmosphere that had been created by the
Canaanite religions. Neither was it possible to
turn back to any ideal, simple life of the past.
When we examine carefully this period of toil and
struggle, we are convinced that Babylon did not
create or inspire the life and religion of Israel.
Professor Friedrich Delitzsch, who is regarded
as a special champion of Babylon, says, at the
close of his first lecture : " Notwithstanding all
this, however, and despite the fact that many
liberal and enlightened minds openly advocated
the doctrine that Nergal and Nebo, that the
moon-god and the sun-god, the god of thunder,
Ramman, and all the rest of the Babylonian
Pantheon were one in Marduk, the god of light,
still polytheism, gross polytheism, remained for
three thousand years the Babylonian State
religion — a sad and significant warning against
the indolence of men and races in matters of
religion, and against the colossal power which
may be acquired by a strongly organised priest
hood based upon it " {Babel and Bible. Three
Lectures. Open Court Pub. Co., Chicago, p. 65).
This is a clear statement from one who cannot
be suspected of unfairness towards Babylon ; and,
certainly, no complaint can be made against
either the truth or the temper of the following
paragraph, in which the same writer points to
the limitations of Israel's religion : " Even the

v.] Babylon and the Bible 99
religion of Yahveh, under the magic standard of
which Moses united into a single nation the
twelve nomadic tribes of Israel, remained infected
for centuries with all manner of human infirmities,
— with all the unsophisticated anthropomorphic
conceptions that are characteristic of the childhood
of the human race, with Israelitic particularism,
with heathen sacrificial customs, and with the cult
of legal externalities. Even its intrinsic worth
was impotent to restrain the nation from worship
ing the Baal and the Astarte of the indigenous
Canaanite race, until those titanic minds, the
prophets, discovered in Yahveh the God of the
universe, and pleaded for a quickening of the
inner spirit of religion with exhortations like
that of Joel, ' to rend their hearts and not their
garments,' and until the divinely endowed singers
of the Psalms expressed the concepts of the
prophetic leaders in verses which awaken to this
day a living echo in the hearts of all nations and
times — until, in fine, the prophets and psalmists
paved the way for the exhortation of Jesus to
pray to God in spirit and truth, and to strive by
dint of individual moral endeavour in all spheres of
life after higher and higher perfection — after that
perfection which is our Father's in heaven."
Next, we may note that the international cir
cumstances which allowed the Israelites to settle
in Palestine, build up a nation, and organise a
kingdom, were precisely the circumstances which

lOO Babylon and the Bible [chap.
allowed the religion to develop in its own way.
" But also here, at the beginning of the history
of the people and State of Israel- J udah, we
recognise the general situation of the Orient as
the pre-condition for the development of the
people, which now for half a thousand years
grows up on the soil of Palestine. The State of
Saul and David could only develope independently
because at that time neither Egypt nor Babylon,
which had by this time stepped into the place of
Assyria, were able to lay hold of anything
beyond their own narrow boundaries " (Winckler,
Abraham als Babylonier, p. 35).
The danger to the purity and growth of the
Hebrew religion, during the first four or five
centuries after the settlement of Palestine, comes
from the common customs of the country, and
from the influence of Canaanite and Tyrian forms
of worship. That Babylonian influence had in
earlier times exerted some influence here need
not be denied. But at the time of which we are
speaking, the two great powers on either hand,
Egypt and Babylon, were too busy with their owi^
affairs to meddle with Syria and Palestine ; hence,
precisely at the time when the Israelite kingdom
was formed, the direct influence of Babylon was
weaker than at the earlier and later period.
Thus, a study of historical circumstances con
nected with the growth of this people, when the
religion was face to face with its first great social

v.] Babylon and the Bible loi
problems, shows free space for original movement
and individual development.
In the prophetic period, which comes next,
there is still less need to consider the influence of
Babylon on the nature of religion, though this is
powerful in the realm of politics, and touches both
the politicians and populace. The real religious
leaders were opposed to foreign influence ; they
were beginning to lay down moral principles of
universal application ; the spirit underlying their
teaching is one that must eventually pass beyond
all barriers of tribe and nation (Amos i.). Their
God was the ruler of the larger world ; Assyria
and Egypt were subject to His sway ; the growth
of the mightiest empires was checked by His
will and limited by His purpose. This faith
came to them by inspiration of the living God ;
theirs was a monotheism that had its roots in the
clear preception of a divine kingdom and an
abiding moral order. Later writers, disciples of
great masters, can turn this faith into a doctrine,
and set forth calm arguments for the supremacy of
Yahweh, or a scornful polemic against the folly of
idolatry. In Deutero- Isaiah it becomes a theology,
but a theology all aglow with passionate hope and
poetic enthusiasm. Jeremiah can recognise the
supremacy of Babylon in the field of politics, and
point to submission as a rational recognition of
Providence ; but he found his religion elsewhere,
in the history of his people, in the message of

I02 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
God to his own throbbing heart. If Ezekiel's
style and imagery are more easy to match with
Babylonian parallels, his doctrine can be explained
only by studying it in connection with the history
of his own people.
We are inclined to think that during the Exile,
when the feeling against Babylon was bitter, the
Jews would not take over anything from their
hated foes ; but it is well to remember that
peoples of definite character cannot come into
close contact without influencing each other. No
doubt the Exile gave the Jewish teachers a
wider outlook ; it is possible, even at this period,
that they learned some things from the larger
nation. Probably these things were of the
external kind connected with calendars and
chronological schemes, things that did not touch
the heart of their faith or even seriously affect
their ritual The post-exilic prophets, poets, and
historians hold fast to the Hebrew tradition and
do not show any great reverence for Babylon.
The later apocryphal and apocalyptic literature
comes under the sway of that luxuriant Oriental
speculation which stands in such strong contrast
to the sober teaching of the prophets. At this
stage, however, what we call distinctively "the
Hebrew faith " has grown to maturity and almost
completed its special contribution to the religious
thought of the world ; it is beginning to be
modified by Hellenic influence ; soon the Jewish

v.] Babylon and the Bible 103
Church as we meet it in the New Testament, a
Church living too largely in the past, will have
reached its final form. Then the world will
need a new teacher, One who can reach the
real heart of the past and carry it to a nobler
future. To illustrate the fact that there may be great
similarity of form along with great difference of
spirit, reference may be made to one of the
apocalyptic books with which we are most
familiar, the Revelation of St. John. This book
occupies a special place in the New Testament
literature on account of its rich Oriental imagery
and highly symbolical character. It may be
that much of the symbolism comes from tra
ditional Semitic forms, but the spirit and purpose
of the book are not Babylonian. From Babylon
we derive not only the divine right of kings, but
even the divinity of the king or emperor ; we
are told on high authority that this was a central
thought of Babylonian theology, and we know
quite well that, in this extreme form, the doctrine
was hateful both to Jews and Christians. The
early Christians protested earnestly against it, as
the Jews had done two centuries earlier. " If
the whole world was ordered according to the
laws prescribed in the stars, so an arrangement
of human society must be carried through accord
ing to the same precepts. As the heavenly, so
must also the earthly rulers exercise their office

I04 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
in a similar manner. The king appears mostly
as the incarnation of the god himself, and is
worshipped as such. The Ptolemies, the
Seleucidae, and the Roman emperors have in
this pretension, which seems to us so monstrous,
merely taken up the Oriental teaching of their
lands and provinces. The conflict to which such
a demand made by Antiochus Epiphanes led
among the Jews is well known. Antiochus
desired the worship of Zeus, but he himself
was the incarnation of the god. The Maccabean
insurrection was the corisequence of the attempt
to again force this Oriental doctrine upon the
Jews" (Winckler, Die babylonische Kultur, etc.).
It is quite clear, then, that there may be a close
similarity in literary forms without slavish de
pendence in the system of thought ; in fact,
while the external appearance is similar, the
substance of the faith may be in sharpest
opposition. There is no need to discuss here the claim
that the name Yahweh, the name of Israel's
God, is found on Babylonian tablets of the time
of Hammurabi. That is a point that must be
settled by historical evidence ; and at present,
judging from the different views held by leading
specialists, we may say that the evidence is not
decisive. It is not likely that this name was
invented by Moses or the early Israelite teachers ;
and, in the future, fuller light may be thrown

v.] Babylon and the Bible 105
upon its origin. The origin of the name is not
of great importance in the present discussion, as
Professor Delitzsch states that he does not on
this account derive the Jewish conception of God
from the Babylonian cosmology. The study of
the names of the Hammurabi period leads him
to " the renewed assumption that they are rooted
in a religious conception different from the
polytheistic views that were native in Babylon.
What was the nature and value of that mono
theism the contemporary sources do not enable
us to determine, but only to infer them from the
later development of ' Yahvism ' " {Babel and
Bible, p. 150). And it is a " misrepresentation " to
attribute to him the idea that " the name and
worship of Yahveh himself, united with a more
or less definitely developed monotheism, was a
primitive possession of Babylon" {ibid. p. 149).
As a matter of fact, we are not able to define the
nature of • this early monotheism, if it really
existed. We are called to judge its nature from
its later developments ; but the actual course of
the development of " Yahvism " is to be found
in the Old Testament ; and this is a Hebrew, not
a Babylonian development. No doubt many
great spiritual movements have gone unrecorded,
or have left few definite marks in the literary
history; but, in the case of Israel, the great
upward movement has left a pathway of light
running through the centuries, shining brighter

io6 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
and brighter unto the perfect day. Here we
have distinct signs of such independence and
originality as is possible in a world where all
forms of life and modes of thought are closely
knit together.
It is (juite probable that in ancient Babylonia
there were monotheistic movements of a scien
tific or political character. Men who studied so
carefully the order of the world as seen in the
heavenly bodies, must often have been driven to
the thought of one power with many manifesta
tions ; men who were zealous for the supremacy
of Babylon and the glory of its god, Marduk,
sometimes attempted to claim for their deity the
prerogatives and powers of other gods ; but, on
the testimony of those who have studied the
matter most carefully, these speculations did not
enter into the heart of the people or change the
course of the nation's life. Babylon played its
own part and gave many gifts to the world, but
it cannot claim that we owe to it the reasoned,
dignified, passionate monotheism of Judaism,
Mohammedanism, and Christianity. This mono
theism did not attain perfection in Israel ; national
limitation and sectarian weakness clung to it ;
but it was a living faith appealing to the noblest
in men, and ever reaching out after larger things.
In the wonderful prophecy of Deutero- Isaiah, a
prophecy uttered in the face of Babylon, this
mighty faith and noble creed finds worthy

v.] Babylon and the Bible 107
expression ; here the ancient faith, both in form
and spirit, comes near to the Christian ideal. In
the words of that great poet, we may say, "It
shall be to Yahweh for a name, for an everlasting
sign that shall not be cut off" (Isa. Iv. 13).

CHAPTER VL
BABYLON AND THE BIBLE — Continued.
In the previous chapter we attempted to show
that Criticism vindicates the independence and
originality of the Hebrew people in the sphere
of religion ; politically, Israel was influenced
by many nations, and intellectually she was in
many respects dependent on the great pre
existing Babylonian civilisation ; but the great
theological and spiritual contribution she has
made to the life of the world comes through her
own God-guided leaders. While the truth of this
statement can be fully proved and abundantly
illustrated, there is no need to deny that recent
research has brought a new world to light, and, by
giving a large new background to the Old Testa
ment, has revealed many points of contact between
Israel and Babylon. A careful examination of
the details involved in this discussion will probably
lead to the conclusion we have already reached,
that any dependence of the Hebrew people on
this ancient civilisation relates rather to the form
of expression than to the essence of the faith.

chap. VI.] Babylon and the Bible 109
It is too late in the day to deny the fact of
this contact ; the evidence is full, clear, and con
vincing. Neither is it satisfactory to say .that,
as scholars differ regarding the time and manner
of such ¦ influence, the fact is therefore doubtful.
It is quite possible for the fact to be absolutely
certain while the explanations remain variable
and uncertain. The attempts to explain away
the fact have so far been feeble and vain. It is
good to treat this question as a purely historical
inquiry, and, in the meantime, keep clear of the
more subtle theological discussions. On the one
hand, to deny plain facts because they conflict
with an outworn theory as to the nature of
revelation, is a form of blindness ; on the other
hand, it is surely shallow and foolish to declare
that the new light thrown on the relation of Israel
to its ancient environment proves that the history
of Israel reveals a purely human movement. To
a deep philosophy, or, what comes to the same
thing, to a simple faith in God, there is no such
thing as a " mere human development " or " purely
natural movement." However, we must leave
to the philosopher or theologian the work of dis
cussing the different questions concerning the
" natural " and the " supernatural " ; the present
investigation is historical in its character ; it is
comparatively simple and concrete.
We may begin with a brief note on a subject
that has aroused much discussion, namely, the

IIO Babylon and the Bible [chap.
origin of the Sabbath. Professor F. Delitzsch, in
the first lecture of the Babel and Bible series made
the following statement : "The Babylonians also
had their Sabbath day (shabattu), and a calendar
of feasts and sacrifices has been unearthed, accord
ing to which the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th days
of every month were set apart as days on which
no work should be done ; on which the king
should not change his robes, nor mount his
chariot, nor offer sacrifices, nor render legal
decisions, nor eat of boiled or roasted meats ; on
which not even a physician should lay hands on
the sick. Now this setting apart of the seventh
day for the propitiation of the gods is really
understood from the Babylonian point of view,
and there can therefore be scarcely the shadow of
a doubt that in the last resort we are indebted to
this ancient nation on the banks of the Euphrates
and the Tigris for the plenitude of blessings that
flows from our day of Sabbath or Sunday rest."
{Babel and Bible. Three Lectures. The Open
Court Pub. Co. 1906, Chicago, p. 37).
This was just the kind of statement to cause
fierce controversy, and it was given with great
emphasis under circumstances that ensured for it
the widest publicity ; and yet we are compelled to
say that it is not the kind of statement we would
have expected from such an eminent scholar ; it is
loosely expressed, it does not distinguish carefully
between fact and conjecture ; to the average

VI.] Babylon and the Bible 1 1 1
reader it suggests much more than it was intended
to convey. For example, after the statement has
been subjected to severe criticism from many
sides, the author of it sums up the result and
gently withdraws in the following words :
"Accordingly we must acquiesce in the fact that
the Hebrew Sabbath ultimately is rooted in the
Babylonian institution. More than this was not
claimed" (ibid. p. 156). We submit that the
original statement does claim or imply much
more than this.
We are not sure that the name Shabattu was
applied to these specific days ; we do not know
that a seven-day week was then in existence in
Babylon ; it does not appear that the days here
mentioned wer^ general holidays or rest days for
the people ; we cannot trace back the process by
which the seventh day was separated from its
original connection with the moon ; in- fact, we
know very little about any Sabbath in ancient
Babylon, and what we do know, even when put
together by the most favourable conjecture, leaves
something very far from the fully developed
Hebrew Sabbath or Christian Sunday. The
process here seems to have been similar to that
which has taken place in other cases : an institu
tion or idea that existed in rudimentary form has
shared in the growth and expansion of the
Hebrew religion ; it has been transformed and
filled with new religious significance. The

1 1 2 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
Hebrew Sabbath runs through the year inde
pendent of the moon ; it provides a day of rest
for man and beast ; the Deuteronomic writer
gives it a humanitarian tone, the Priestly author
regards it as belonging to the original constitution
of the world, the prophets endow it with rich
spiritual meaning, and, finally, Jesus Christ rescues
it from superstition and bigotry, declaring that
"the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the
Sabbath." The dim beginnings of this institu
tion are lost in antiquity, but the spiritual history
of it is revealed in the Hebrew documents, and
through them has exerted a powerful influence
over the higher life of the world. It is, then,
only in a very remote sense that we can be" said
to be indebted to Babylon " for the plenitude of
blessings that flows from our day of Sabbath or
Sunday rest." Whatever may still be discovered
concerning ancient Babylon, the fact must remain
that, the Sabbath as we know it, and the noblest
thoughts that gather round it, come to us from
the Hebrew people. Assemblies such as we
now have once a week for the studj^of sacred
scriptures and the exercise of simple intelligent
worship, helped to keep alive the Hebrew religion
in the dark days of the Babylonian exile ; and
through the bitterness and disappointment of
that fruitful period this institution received new
meaning and power. The whole of this Babel
and Bible question tends to illustrate the fact

VI.] Babylon and the Bible 113
which is made quite clear in this one case, namely,
that anything which passed over from Babylon to
Israel received a new religious interpretation, and
was set on the way of a higher development.
One of the most wonderful pieces of literature
in any language is the story of the Creation and
Paradise, contained in Gen. ii. 4^-iii. ; it is full
of deep suggestions expressed in powerful poetic
form. When we separate this piece from its
context, and try to study it apart from the later
theology that has been read into it, we find that it
presents a fascinating picture of primitive man in
relation to the God who is his King and Judge.
There is much sadness in this picture of man's
weakness and his silent submission to the all-
powerful God. It is pathetic rather than tragic
in its tone ; there is in it no sublime passion,
no fiery conflict, no magnificent rebellion. The
God pictured in this story is the supreme Lord ;
the man, the woman, and the serpent are, His
creatures ; their destiny is controlled by His re
sistless will ; but the world that forms the back
ground of the story is a small one, it is not the
great cosmos of chap. i. ; the scene of the story
is the ancient garden of the gods. The one God,
Yahweh, is a judge who by skilful questioning
goes to the heart of the matter, and in solemn
oracles apportions to each offender his rightful
share of punishment. Man is of the earth ; he
comes from the soil, and with painful labour he
8

1 14 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
tills the ground to gain his daily bread ; and his
destiny is to return to the dust from whence he
came. The innocence and ignorance of naked
childhood has been exchanged for the painful
experience of mature life ; in gaining knowledge,
man has tasted the bitterness of sin and sorrow.
If we follow out all the details with fine analytic
power, we may find the answers to many questions
concerning man's origin and nature ; to many of
these questions science now gives a different or
fuller answer, but the record of early thinking is
still full of interest. The supreme thought seems
to be that man in finding knowledge has found
sorrow, because he has failed to gain that other
great prerogative of God, eternal life. His
knowledge does not save him from painful toil
nor from his doleful destiny. There does not
seem to be a conscious polemic against culture
and in favour of the claims of the simple life.
The peasant who comes before us in this story is
simple enough, but there is no pride of simplicity,
it is not a simplicity in which a man can glory and
find great joy. It is a wonderful picture, with
many germinal ideas in a small space ; there is a
deep knowledge of human nature revealed in each
separate stroke, as well as in the effective arrange
ment of the several parts. Here is unconscious
genius and deep religious strength ; yet the total
effect of the story is depressing, and it is not
likely that when it was read or told separately it

VI.] Babylon and the Bible 115
suggested to the hearers anything that we could
call a " gospel " ; still less the elaborate specula
tive theology of later Jewish and Christian
schools. As the expression of a particular phase
of human life, it is, and must remain, one of the
most precious and suggestive fragments that have
come from early times.
After reading many discussions on the subject,
we have come to the conclusion that there has not
yet been discovered any Babylonian parallel to this
story. Professor Delitzsch, after noting the signi
ficance of the story for the history of religion and
for the New Testament theology, launches out
in this dramatic style : " May I lift the veil, may 1
point to an old Babylonian cylinder-seal, on which
may be seen in the centre a tree bearing pendent
fruits ; to the right a man, distinguishable by his
horns, which are the symbol of strength ; to the
left a woman, both with their hands outstretched
toward the fruit ; and behind the woman the
serpent ? Is it not the very acme of likelihood
that there is some connection between this old
Babylonian picture and the Biblical tale of the Fall
of Man ? " {Babel and Bible, p. 48). Here our
expectation was excited and the veil was lifted, but
we did not see very much after all. This parti
cular cylinder has been known for a long time,
and many experts fail to see the connection, some
even doubt whether it is really the figure of a
serpent ; they claim that the serpent is merely "a

ii6 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
meandering line " or " ornamental division." The
figures are clothed, and there are other features
which make the connection unlikely, or at least
uncertain. The following statement by Dr. Driver, like all
his deliverances, is carefully expressed, and does
full justice to the fact that we must acknowledge
strong Babylonian influence in the form of these
narratives. " The material side of the narrative
was derived, there can be little doubt, from the
representations and traditions current among the
writer's fellow-countrymen, though not entirely of
native origin. The narrative contains features
which have unmistakable counterparts in the
religious traditions of other nations ; and some
of these, though they have been accommodated
to the spirit of Israel's feligion, carry indications
that they are not native to it " (Driver, The Book
of Genesis, p. 51). After quoting details, he de
clares, " Enough will have been adduced to show
that, though no complete Babylonian parallel to
the story of Paradise is at present known, there
are features in the narrative which point strongly
towards Babylonia, and, in the light of the known
fact that other elements in the early chapters of
Genesis are derived from Babylonia, authorise
the inference that echoes of Babylonian beliefs
supplied, at least in part, the framework of the
representation " {ibid. p. 53). There are, no
doubj:, features which are common to this and

vl] Babylon and the Bible 117
similar Babylonian stories. The four rivers,
perhaps a prosaic addition, take us into the
region of Babylon ; Eden also is in that neigh
bourhood ; the cherubim, the garden of the
gods, the tree of life, and other features may be
Babylonian or belong to ancient Semitic poetry.
But this does not justify us in calling the story,
in its present form, Babylonian, any more than
we can give the credit of Shakespeare's plays to
the ancient Chronicler. The theology is Pales
tinian, it comes from men of the Hebrew race
who had been touched by the prophetic spirit.
Even here the supremacy of Yahweh asserts
itself, Babylonian demonology is subdued, if not
completely rejected ; Israel's God is regarded as
the absolute Ruler of the world and of all creatures
in it.
The case of the first narrative of creation
(Gen. i.-ii. \d) is somewhat different ; from the
time when the Babylonian Creation tablets were
discovered, it has been recognised that there
was a real relationship of some kind between
the two accounts of creation, the Hebrew and
the Babylonian. At first the new discoveries
were appealed to as " confirmation " of the Biblical
account, the two being regarded as variants of one
primitive tradition; since that time the "light
from the East" has grown both in quality and
quantity, and the whole subject has been fully
discussed from many points of view. A detailed

II 8 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
examination of this account would require several
chapters ; all that can be given now is a few notes
on the narrative as it is involved in the Babel and
Bible controversy. The apologetic side of the
question we may dismiss briefly with the remark
that if we accept a careful criticism we can
dispense with the various allegorical interpreta
tions and harmonistic devices which have in the
past grown out of the attempts to reconcile the
statements of the chapter with the science and
philosophy of different generations. This does
not mean that we dismiss the subject simply by
saying that the narrative of the creation of the
world was not meant to teach science but religion.
Let us try to be a little more precise. Besides
embodying a noble faith, a faith which must live
for ever and express itself in various forms, an
intelligent faith in divine action and orderly pro
cess, besides this vital thing, the chapter contains
ideas which belong to the realm of physical
science, ideas which served their purpose nobly
for centuries, but which have become childlike
in the light of the world's ever-growing knowledge.
In other words, we must be prepared to admit
frankly that science and philosophy in the Bible,
as elsewhere, grows old and takes its place in the
history of human thought.
But the main question for us is. What is the
relation of this chapter to the Babylonian cos
mogony, with which it certainly has points of

VI.] Babylon and the Bible 119
contact and yet from which it differs so widely ?
We have to account both for the similarities and
differences, and to answer the pertinent question.
Are the similarities strong enough to suggest a
real relationship, and if so, what is the nature of
that relationship ? Various positions have been
taken : that the similarities are slight, and are such
as might be expected in statements that deal with
a common subject ; or that the Babylonian and
Biblical accounts come from a primitive tradition,
which in one case has been perverted into a
polytheistic form, while in the other it has retained
its monotheistic character. The great body of
Old Testament scholars, at the present day, are
compelled by clear conviction to follow a quite
different course. While there may be difference
of opinion as to the time and manner in which
this influence travelled into Palestine, they are
agreed that the form which the account of the
Creation takes in Gen. i. is ultimately dependent
on Babylonian modes of thought. It is not
necessary to regard this process as a "borrow
ing," in any crude mechanical sense. The study
of the external world in a large scientific sense,
and particularly of astronomy, had its home and
origin in Babylon ; certain forms of thought and
expression have persisted down to our own times ;
can it be at all surprising, then, that the Hebrews,
who were a younger race, and who came into a
land that had been directly dependent on Babylon,

I20 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
should feel the influence of this ancient civilisation
in matters of science ?
We cannot deny the dependence and inferiority
of the Hebrews in these matters, but we maintain
that it did not destroy the individuality of the
Hebrew people or affect seriously the real origin
ality and power of their religion.
The case on the critical side may be summed
up briefly as follows: (i) Babylonian civilisation
is very ancient, its historic records go back to a
period thousands of years before the formation of
the Hebrew nation. Long before the particular
tribes out of which this nation was formed came
into the light of history, there were many migra
tions of different peoples into Palestine. (2)
This light has come to us from the monuments ;
Hebrew tradition agrees with it, it points to the
East as the abode of primitive man, it traces the
ancestors of the Hebrew people to that quarter,
all its references to Babylon show that the Assyrio-
Babylonian Empire is regarded as ancient and
original. (3) In this part of the Old Testament
(Gen. i.-xi.) there are other sections that
bear clear marks of Babylonian influence, e.g. the
story of the Flood, the Ten Patriarchs, the
Tower of Babel. These plain indications help to
turn the scale in cases that seem more doubtful.
(4) As to the similarities, it is contended that
these by their very nature show the Hebrew
account to be later, and dependent on the earlier

VI.] Babylon and the Bible 121
stories. In other words, we have survivals, in the
form of certain expressions, which are best ex
plained by the supposition that the original
meaning has been partly washed out. The idea
of " chaos " or the great primeval flood is at home
in Babylonia, not in Palestine. The Hebrew
word for " deep " has probably some connection
with Tiamat, the mythological monster of the
Babylonian poem. That the world arises through
a division of the primitive waters (Tiamat) is a
feature that it has in common with all Babylonian
accounts. The phrase, " Let us make man,"
perhaps owes its presence here to the polytheistic
form of the original story. The break in the
thought between vers. 2 and 3 suggests that
something foreign to Hebrew thought has fallen
out. These are but specimens of many details
which, taken all together, favour the view that
the narrative owes many of its features to an
earlier form, which itself has had a long history
and passed through many stages. This earlier
form may have points of contact with other
cosmogonies, but the most powerful influence is,
no doubt, Babylonian. When we have admitted
all this, we are still face to face with the fact that
the chapter that lies before us is a genuine Hebrew
production. The Priestly style that marks the
present form belongs to the Judaism of exilic and
post-exilic times ; this is seen in the formal, pre
cise repetition, in the love of classification and

122 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
definition, in the blessing of the works of creation,
and in the supreme importance attached to the
Sabbath. Some of these things may be found
centuries earlier in Babylon, but it was in the later
literary age that they became doiriinant among
the Jews. But, above all, we have the sublime
monotheism to which the Hebrew people had
been led by their great teachers ; this colours the
whole narrative ; the creative word of God brings
order out of chaos and guides the beginning of
things in orderly progression. The writer bows
in reverence before the mystery of life, and
expresses a calm conviction that the world is good.
These beginnings of botany and biology have
long ago been left behind, but this faith in a living
God and an orderly universe belongs to the
eternal order of things. In Babylon, sun, moon,
and stars were gods ; here they are simply lamps
hung in the firmament of heaven for the con
venience of man to determine the times of his
festivals. The Babylonians had more knowledge
of astronomy, and the mythological forms in which
this was often presented show a poetic magnifi
cence and weird power ; the Hebrew cosmogony
prepared the way for more sober science and
purer religion. Taking a large view, we can say
this, although in later days by a stupid literalism
Genesis and science have often been brought into
conflict. Much more might be said along this
line, but our present purpose is merely to show

VI.] Babylon and the Bible 123
that while the account of the creation is a later
production, and is dependent, in a remote way, on
the Babylonian cosmogony, yet it is a genuine
document of Hebrew faith and Jewish theology ;
in its own way it is a strong testimony to the real
originality and the unconquerable power of that
faith. With regard to the narrative of the Deluge,
after the discussions of the last half century, it is
impossible to deny that the case is even stronger
for Babylonian influence. The story did not
originate in Israel ; it is used by Hebrew writers
to fill out their slight sketch of the early history
of the world, and to set forth their ideas of God's
righteous government. Flood stories are found
in many nations, and probably many of these
sprang from a common centre ; but those that
circulated among the Semitic peoples no doubt
originated in Babylonia, the region of great floods,
rather than in Palestine, and among the older
rather than the younger members of the family.
In the Assyrio- Babylonian tradition the story of
the Flood is an episode in a long, elaborate poem,
— a poem which, with all its wild mythology so
foreign to our tastes, is yet full of beauty and
impressiveness. The Hebrew account is a mere
fragment made up from two different sources, and
used in a very simple fashion to piece out a
history of primitive times. Whether the original
account comes from an actual tradition of a par-

124 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
ticular flood, or is a bit of astral mythology, or
a mingling of these two, is a matter still under
discussion, and one that may never receive an
absolutely final answer ; but that the account in
our Bible is dependent upon an earlier Babylonian
record is quite certain. If we are in an apologetic
mood we may say that the religious value lies not
in that which Babel and Bible have in common,
but in that in which they differ, and point out
that on the whole we have here a simpler and
nobler view of God and His government of the
world. But in doing this we do well to beware
of exaggeration. We have to concede that in the
Hebrew phraseology there is a survival of the
older, coarser view (Gen. viii. 21). The view
that God judges the world by catastrophes of
this kind is not the highest conception ; in fact,
with our knowledge of the laws of the physical
universe, it is difficult to accept it at all (cf.
Luke xiii. 3). We cannot infer that people
swept away by earthquakes and floods are by that
fact proved to have been extraordinarily wicked.
We believe in a righteous God who is the ruler
and judge of the world, but we are justified in
using the teaching of the prophets, and even the
lessons of science, to enlarge and purify our con
ception of God's action. The Hebrew writers, in
rejecting polytheism and casting aside much of the
ancient Semitic mythology, rendered service both
to science and religion; but it is absurd to speak as

VI. J Babylon and the Bible 125
if they had all at once reached a perfect theology.
Much that they have left us shows, not what we
ought to believe, but what thoughtful men guided
by the Spirit of God once held, and what we, fol
lowing a higher revelation, must now leave behind.
If we cherish the spirit of our Master and avail
ourselves of all new light, we may express our
faith in the righteous government of God in a
form more suited to our own age.
There seems also to be some connection between
the genealogies in Gen. iv. and v. and similar
traditions which come from ancient Babylonia.
On the fact that the list in chap. v. is more
complete, having the full ten members, and more
closely resembles the Babylonian table of the
primeval kings. Professor Hommel founds an
argument for the early date of the Priests' Code ;
but that argument might just as easily cut the
other way, and, at any rate, the date of that
document cannot be settled by one or two points
of detail, but by its relationship, as a whole, to
the life of the Hebrew people. We need to
remember constantly that a history of the world
and of its own remote past is not one of the first
literary achievements of any nation. We have
no reason to believe that the Hebrew people were
exceptional in this regard; only in later days,
when they had a past to look back upon, and
when they had come into contact with nations
more cultured than themselves, did Hebrew his-

126 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
torians attempt to place the history of their own
nation within the larger framework of the world's
life, and claim for their God the supreme position
as Creator and Guide of the whole world. Even
then they did not gain the large conceptions of
the vastness and duration of the universe which
had come to the Babylonians through their
astronomical researches. We must concede that
from the point of view of scientific education,
ancient Israel was provincial and poor ; her glory
was not to be achieved in that direction, but in
bringing to mankind the great prophetic message.
The admissions that we are compelled to make
in this respect simply lead to a wider recognition
of the truth, that if we would understand the Bible
we must accord to it the same treatment that is
given to any other great literature, and study the
country, time, and circumstances out of which it
arose. Dr. A. Jeremias says that in our
endeavour to use the light from the ancient
monuments we are simply extending the old
thought, "If you, the poet, would understand, you
must go into the poet's land." In addition to
The Land and the Book, we have now The
Old Testament in the Light of the Ancient
Orient. When we pass from the Old Testament
to the ancient Babylonian records, we find things
in a fully developed form which we once regarded
as distinctively Hebrew, e.g. literary forms, such
as the parallelism used in poetic compositions.

VI.] Babylon and the Bible 127
Mythology, which is barely alluded to or suggested
in the Hebrew Scriptures, flourishes there in full
luxuriance. Besides a number of points of contact
in details of literary style and social customs, we
discover that the conception of " the world " as an
ordered universe of a particular type existed long
before the Hebrews, and hence was not invented
by them. This is clearly proved : there may be
sharp controversy on minor points, but the main
contention is accepted by men of all shades of
thought. But coming into a world of a certain
type the Hebrew nation brought its own peculiar
contribution, and if these archaeological discoveries
are multiplied tenfold they can never destroy or
belittle the service that Israel has rendered to
humanity. A few words in conclusion as to the result of
our examination of this whole subject of Babylon
and the Bible, (i) We cannot draw from this
sphere alone the solution of critical and historical
questions relating to the Old Testament ; the
experts in Assyriology differ among themselves ;
some who are supposed to be orthodox, as
Hommel and Sayce, have a tendency to make
the substance of the Old Testament too much
a copy and repetition of Babylonian ideas. In
some respects their apologetic seems to us to be
quite as dangerous as the more extreme positions
of Winckler and Delitzsch. In their efforts to
discredit critical views in general and the docu-

128 Babylon and the Bible [chap.
mentary theory in particular, these scholars derive
so much from Babylon that the very life of the
Old Testament is imperilled. The best plan is
to take each case on its own merits, not being
consumed with zeal for the theories of any school,
and, as far as possible, to explain that which is
vital in the Old Testament within its own borders,
while welcoming light from every quarter. If we
can cherish this spirit, then all real light from the
Orient will be to us a help and inspiration, not a
terror and cause of distress.
(2) This examination of some points of detail
leads to the conclusion that was reached by our
more general treatment, namely, that, however
much Israel might be dependent on Babylon in
matters of history and science, religiously she was
free and independent — that is, her prophets and
leaders had a clear, strong message of their own.
Popular religion in Israel as elsewhere was crude,
clinging to ancient superstitions and strange
survivals ; because their history was a living
process and religion the essential thing in it, there
was continual conflict, ebb and flow, action and
reaction ; but through it all there is a pathway of
light, a real religious movement, that is coming to
ever clearer conceptions of God's character and
man's duty. When we have once learned to
trace the development in and through which this
divine revelation is manifested, the less can we
regard the religion of Israel as borrowed from

VI.] Babylon and the Bible i2,c)
Babylon or elsewhere ; we see it in its early
simple days meeting new dangers and fighting
new temptations, we watch it struggling against
the rank growth of native superstition, we behold
it under the guidance of prophetic men coming
to clearer consciousness of its divine origin and
destiny ; in the end we recognise that out of local
limitations and sectarian narrowness there has
come a world-wide message concerning God's
righteousness and love which the world will not
willingly let die. Babylon in its own place played
an important part, its life was not all evil ; we
read with interest to-day the evidences of earnest
noble life contained in its long buried records ;
there is no need to deny that God was working
there in manifold ways ; but the Bible still remains
as the noblest embodiment of the truth that there
is one living and eternal God who speaks to men
of prophetic spirit, and through the life of the
family and nation reveals Himself more fully to
mankind.

CHAPTER VIL
EARLY HEBREW RELIGION.
The subject of the present chapter, " Early
Hebrew Religion," is one upon which much
time and skill have been spent by scholars in
recent years ; it is a large, complex subject,
which can receive only very slight treatment
in the course of a single chapter. All that can
be done is to set down a few simple statements,
showing how we approach this subject and in
what way we attempt to handle it from the
modern point of view. What that point of
view is cannot be stated in a short sentence,
but the meaning of the phrase is quite clear
to those who have given even a little careful
attention to the matter. Professor James
Robertson, in his book on The Early Religion
of Israel, gives as a sub-title the words, "as
set forth by Biblical Writers and by Modern
Critical Historians"; and Dr. Orr quite recently
has set up the same claim, namely, that there
is one consistent Biblical theory as to the nature
of Early Hebrew Religion, and that this theory

CHAP. VII.] Early Hebrew Religion 131
is the opposite of that which is held and ex
pounded by "modern critical historians." One
of these critical historians who has received
special attention from the defenders of the
so-called " Biblical theory," is the distinguished
German scholar who passed away not long ago,
after a life of arduous and fruitful toil, Dr.
Bernhard Stade. While we cannot help admir
ing the courage and energy with which Dr.
Robertson set himself to stem the tide of criti
cism, and while we enjoy his flowing rhetoric,
including the smart raps given to individual
critics for their blindness and folly, on the
whole, we find more help in Stade's positive
presentation of the subject than in all these
clever attempts to magnify the difficulties of
the critical position. Dr. Stade was, in his own
way, as little complimentary, for he tells us
that what the Scotch professor gave to his
readers was simply a caricature of the critical
theory. Thus the conflict seems to go on un
ceasingly ; but more and more the new books are
written from the new position, and we are glad
that so many stimulating and suggestive volumes
are now appearing in the English language.
While there is a certain general scheme accepted
by the dominant school, the Higher Criticism
cannot claim " to have settled all things " ; for
in the place of one question that has been
answered many new ones have come to the

132 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
front ; but, fortunately for the sake of clearness,
these are specific questions of detail upon which
scholars will need to spend much time and
labour. With regard to many of these it may
be impossible to reach an absolutely final and
convincing answer ; and yet we cannot say
that the labour thus spent is wasted. As an
example of such a question, we may mention
the discussions as to the origin and primitive
meaning of the word "Yahweh," the name
given by the Hebrews to their national God ;
these discussions have been full of interest to
the student, but there is still room for great
variety of opinion.
By "early" Hebrew religion we mean that
religion before it came under the influence of
the great prophets of the eighth century b.c.
We know fairly well the character of Judaism ;
its documents and institutions come within the
clear light of history ; we can disentangle the
leading ideas of the prophets even from the
scanty remains of their great sermons. But
the nature of the early religion is still a subject
of fierce discussion. There is no need to regret
these discussions, light will come out of them
as well as smoke ; and the keenness of the
controversy is a testimony to the importance
as well as the difficulty of the subject. It will
always be very difficult to reconstruct anything
like a living picture of a generation that lies

VII.] Early Hebrew Religion 133
about three thousand years behind us, and that
belongs to a different country and race. We
have in this region, then, to be content with
a few positive, suggestive thoughts.
This is a historical subject, and we only begin
the history of the religion where we begin the
history of the people, that is, when they came
into Palestine. Here again we are brought face
to face with the fact which we have had to insist
upon so often in this book, namely, that we
must form our view of the age and character
of the documents before we can come to a con
clusion as to the nature and course of the
religious development. We may have held
firmly and intelligently to the belief that this
religion comes from God, in a special manner,
but our view as to the time of its origin and
the way in which it grew may have been con
siderably modified by further study. To settle
the date of a document, then, while only a
means to an end, is an important means to
a very important end. For instance, if Ps.
xl and Ii. come from the same period and the
same people as the story told in 2 Sam. xxi.,
then anything is possible in a psychological
and literary sense, and there is an end to all
definite criticism. Since any real piece of
literature reflects the life of the times from
which it springs, and since there is a real
onward and upward movement in any living

134 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
nation, we must study the age of documents
as a means of getting at the actual life.
From the view already taken of the docu
ments, we cannot begin the history of the
religion in the supposed time of Abraham, or,
in other words, the patriarchal stories of Genesis
cannot be used as material for pre-Mosaic history.
"The primary value of these stories is didactic
and religious rather than historical " (Professor
Kent, Biblical World, Dec. 1906). This does not
mean that an absolutely new beginning is made
at the Exodus, and that behind that there is a
"tabula rasa," or blank. The view we now
take gives us much more before the Exodus
than the older view ; instead of the story of
one small family, we have the migrations and
toils of many tribes, who were struggling towards
clearer religious convictions and higher political
unity. But what this life was we cannot learn
very clearly from the narratives of Genesis ;
we must discover it from the general history
and life of the Semitic nations, and from the
traces which it has left in the later history of
Israel. So far as the Israelites are concerned,
we are compelled to regard the period before
their entrance into Palestine as prehistoric.
Doubtless there was an Egyptian servitude of
some tribes, and desert-wandering of many
tribes ; but while we gain some light from other
sources, it is difficult to draw any consistent

VII.] Early Hebrew Religion 135
picture of those distant days from the Hebrew
documents. Neither can we accept one of the latest views,
that of Winckler, that we must begin the his
tory in the time of the early monarchy, and
that David was practically the founder and first
apostle of the Yahweh - religion. While the
historical remains are scanty and the traditions
in some points varying and uncertain, we believe
that the story of the Hebrew people and its
religion can be traced back to the time of Moses.
This is the position taken by a great many
scholars who are thoroughly radical in their
criticism, and it seems to be the view that will
in the long run prevail. There does not seem
to be any chance of restoring the traditional
view of the pre - Mosaic period ; but criticism
tends more and more to become positive and
constructive, and seeks to trace with growing
clearness and certainty the movement of Hebrew
religion from the days of Moses, its founder,
to the times when its noblest aims and aspira
tions were fulfilled in Jesus, the Christ.
In the book already referred to by Professor
James Robertson, we meet this question, " See
ing that the Hebrew tradition, at the very
earliest point at which we can seize it, is purer
and loftier than any other, why should it be
at all incredible that in that race from pre-
Abrahamic times and in the lands from which

136 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
the faith of Abraham was disseminated, there
were found purer conceptions of God and deeper
intuitions into His character and operations than
we find elsewhere — glimmerings of a purer faith
which had elsewhere become obscured by poly
theistic notions and practices?" (Robertson,
The Early Religion of Israel, p. 487). What
shall we say to this elaborate question, except
that it is a pure speculation, resting on the
antiquated idea of a "primitive revelation," and
that it gives us vague generalities which have
little contact with actual history.
We begin, then, with the character of Moses,
and try to form some definite idea as to the
character of the new Hebrew religion. It is
surely an ancient tradition, "a Biblical view,"
that Moses was in a very real sense the founder
of this religion. There was a time when it
seemed as if Moses was going to be lost in the
floods of criticism ; but that time has gone by,
and now, though we cannot regard this great
leader as the author of the Pentateuch, he still
stands before us as a great creative spirit, heroic
and glorious in his wonderful work. " A historical
picture is not complete which finds no place for
Moses" (Stade, Geschichte, etc., i. 516). What
Moses did was to revive the hopes of these
scattered tribes, and nerve them for heroic efforts
in conquering the new country which was to be
their future home and the scene of such important

vn.] Early Hebrew Religion 137
events. This he did by preaching to them the
power of Yahweh, and thus providing for them
an inspiring faith and a living bond of union
which was both political and religious. So the
nation and the religion were born at the same
hour, and through the same divine call and the
same creative act of faith ; the nation did not
fully realise its unity all at once, this was only
reached through the long struggles and varied
circumstances of succeeding centuries ; the religion
also required those same centuries of toilsome life
in which to show its real purity and power.
The religious beliefs held and the rites prac
tised by the Israelites before they came into
Palestine were, no doubt, very similar to those
which prevailed among other Semitic tribes in
the nomadic state. The position held by the
foremost representatives of Old Testament criti
cism is, we believe, the correct one, namely, that
if we wish to form a picture of Israel's ancestors,
we must compare them with the Arabs of the
desert rather than with the priests and scribes
who dwelt in the great cities of Babylonia and
Assyria. If they were not "savages," neither
were they specialists in theology and astronomy ;
they were strong, courageous men, thoughtful in
their own way, but simple in their modes of
thinking and living. Traces of their beliefs and
customs may be fdund in many of the things
which in later days were transformed or cast

138 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
away. The Israelites could not, and did not,
suddenly drop old beliefs and sacred customs,
and pass at one bound into a new theology and
a larger life. The faith of Moses was, no doubt,
higher than that of the ordinary Israelite, but
it was not incomprehensible to them ; men of
eager hope and strong desire could grasp it and
live upon it. It was a new religion, but it had
its points of contact with the old life, and could
appear as the continuation of much that was
inspiring in their more ancient modes of faith.
Whether the name Yahweh came from the
Kenites or from some other source, it now gained
richer meaning and became a living bond of
union for many tribes, drawing them together
and fitting them for tasks that were immediately
before them. The first task was not to write
books or codify laws, but to gain a home in
which they might build a strong nation and
worship their God. Thus for the leaders of the
nation this crisis was a conversion, a turning to
their God who had revealed Himself powerfully
in their experience, and proved His power to
save His people when they trusted Him. Yahweh
might speak in the thunder, but He was not a
mere force of nature ; He might dwell on Sinai,
but His power was not limited to that sacred
mountain. All the traditions show that there
was an element of choice in the relation between
this people and their God ; it was not a simple

vn.] Early Hebrew Religion 139
affair of nature or ancestry ; and they all testify
to a new, keener sense of reverence. This point
of view must have been intensified by the presen
tations of later writers, but it was there from the
beginning, and it was so real that it was never
completely crushed. There was room for real
development during a thousand years of restless
life, but when we have reduced it to its simplest
form there was something in the new movement,
this birth-hour of a nation and a religion, that had
in it the promise and potency of a rich expanding
life. The power of Yahweh was a power mani
fested in history, and a power that quickened in
His subjects a sense of moral obligation. Here
we find the central significance of the Mosaic
movement, and in this work we see that Moses
was a prophet who brought to the people a
message which he received from God. Here,
as elsewhere in the Old Testament, the new view
lays stress upon the inspiration of men rather
than upon the mechanical dictation of dogmas.
When we come to speak of the religion of a
people, we must remember that there are many
strands which we can distinguish but not separate.
We speak of " popular " and " prophetic " religion,
but we must not at first make too deep a gulf
between these two forms of religious life ; there
are different grades of prophets and different
classes of people. The prophets could not have
done effective work and have left a permanent

140 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
message unless there had been many disciples
who understood their words and were in full
sympathy with their purposes. The mass of
the people, however, not only clung to their own
old customs, but were easily led to add to these
others of a somewhat similar character from their
Canaanite neighbours ; hence the difficulty of
forming a complete or consistent picture of the
religious life of those days, when such varied
forces were struggling for the mastery. It is
now easy enough to prove that the elaborate
ritual of the Priestly Code did not exist and
could not have been practised in the wilderness.
It is easy enough also to declare that the early
religion was more natural, sensuous, picturesque,
and joyful, less literary, ecclesiastical, and dogmatic
than it became in later Judaism. But these
generalities, true enough in their way, do not
carry us very far. Ritual of some kind there
must have been round the desert sanctuaries, in
connection with the travelling tent and at the
various centres of worship in Palestine. Religion
was an affair of the family, the clan, and the
tribe, as well as of the nation, and in these early
days there must have been much liberty and
diversity ; loyalty to Yahweh, the national God,
did not at once and for ever depose the household
gods, crush out local customs and tribal usages,
or produce anything like religious uniformity.
One of the first things that used to trouble the

vn.] Early Hebrew Religion 141
youthful student of the Old Testament, as soon
as he began to try to put things together for
himself, was the immense difference between the
elaborate order of the ritual prescriptions of the
Pentateuch and the state of things revealed in
the books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings. It was
evident that if all this legislation existed in the
earliest days, it was very much of a dead letter.
Everywhere we find endless variety and exuberant
irregularity. Y'ou can account for this on the
supposition that the Bible history is like a police
record, which passes over the lives of orderly
people in silence, and gives an account only of
notable law-breakers and disturbers of the peace.
Such an explanation is somewhat strained, and
it certainly impoverishes the narratives ; if the
most striking incidents narrated in this wonderful
literature are not typical of the actual life of the
people, but give us only the morbid and excep
tional, then we have no real revelation of that
human life through which the grace and guidance
of God are richly manifested. The contrary is
surely the case ; the literature, limited as it is,
reflects the varied life of the people and the
real growth of the religion. The days of "the
Judges" were rude, unsettled times, full of these
so-called abnormal incidents. The period of the
first Kings was an age when, after several im
perfect attempts, a fuller measure of national unity
and religious centralisation was reached. As we

142 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
watch these varying struggles, we feel that we
are face to face with a real creative movement
and not merely with the carrying out of a
programme that had been fully formulated and
embodied in a written constitution.
The worship of Yahweh is a historical move
ment and a national religion, it is larger and
nobler than the' ritual customs of family or clan ;
it is the bond of union and the source of life ;
hence it is bound up with every great change,
and rises to its highest power in the supreme
crises of the nation's history. The religious
philosophy which pervades the framework of the
Book of Judges may be somewhat mechanical,
with its regulai; rhythm of apostasy, punishment,
repentance, and deliverance ; but certainly there
is this truth lying behind it, that in early religion,
politics and religion are closely connected, and
every movement towards closer union and purer
life partakes of the nature of a religious revival.
In a real revival the religion goes back and
nourishes itself on sacred memories, but it also
presses forward and gains a clearer vision. Among
such movements and revivals we may class the
coming into Canaan, the great battle celebrated
in the Song of Deborah, the struggles of Saul
against the Philistines, David's great achievement
in making Jerusalem the capital of the nation
and the centre of the religion, Elijah's heroic
opposition to the worship of the Tyrian Baal,

vn.] Early Hebrew Religion 143
and so on through more than a thousand years
of eventful life. Through all this ebb and flow,
this action and reaction, a people is formed and
a religion advances in strength and purity. The
Hebrew peasants were not systematic theologians,
their leaders had not yet turned to study universal
history and to claim the whole world for Yahweh ;
in their family life and tribal action they were
encompassed about by old religious customs, sur
vivals of beliefs that were ancient and in some
respects outworn ; but when there was a call for
general effort, when the fiery cross went round,
when the whole nation was moved by a common
hope or fear, then they knew that Yahweh was
going forth in their midst, and they awaited with
eager expectation some mighty manifestation of
His power.
This new religious force, by its very purity and
vigour, led to continual conflicts, and it was by
these conflicts that the content of the theology
was enriched. In one sense we must admit that
this religion never completely conquered its own
people. The northern and larger half of the
nation was broken and destroyed in the process,
and only through Jewish channels have we
received some precious fragments from its litera
ture and life. It has been maintained with much
force that not until the Exile did the Yahweh-
religion gain a decisive victory in J udah. Just
when the prophets had risen to their loftiest

144 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
heights and proclaimed the noblest views of God,
the people were again caught by foreign religious
fashions and enticed into coarse idolatries. This
we can read clearly in the words of competent
witnesses, men like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who
knew the nature of their religion and the
weaknesses of their people. But in the early
formative period the direct influence of Egypt
and Assyria did not play a great part. The real
struggle was with the Canaanite culture and
superstition ; and here is the supreme witness to
the original energy and permanent power of the
Yahweh-religion, that it was not crushed or
absorbed, but emerged victorious and enriched
from this struggle. The people were at times
corrupted by that which was worst in the
Palestinian religions ; but their leaders, the real
saints, spoiled the enemy in the noblest sense,
and claimed that the fruits of the land, the wheat
and barley, the vine and fig-tree, were not the
gifts of any local Baal, but the gracious blessings
of Yahweh, their God. It was this enlarged
faith that inspired the noble Nature-Psalms of
a later literary age ; to this is due in part the
thought of God ever present in the world of
nature, which is so graphically presented in other
parts of the Old Testament, and which should
still have a prominent place in our preaching.
What account, then, does the Old Testament
itself give of these early struggles and great

vn.] Early Hebrew Religion 145
achievements ? If we accept the modern analysis
of the Pentateuch and turn for our answer to
the early historical narratives, we shall find, that
there is not a complete ritual dominating and
shaping the life of the whole people. Still, if
there were no canonical, verbally-inspired books,
there were eager, energetic men facing life with
true reverence, stern resolution, and keen in
telligence. These men were deeply religious
in their own way, they sought to apply their
knowledge of God to the problems of practical
life. Such men, though standing on a different
plane of civilisation and refinement from that
which we ought to occupy, are well worthy of
the name chosen by Professor Budde, who speaks
of them as " Champions of Yahweh."
There were also heroic men, fighters in the
literal sense ; men who brooded over the nation's
wrongs and sorrows until the spirit of Yahweh
came upon them with irresistible energy, and they
arose to seize the most convenient weapon and
to do the work that was nearest to their hand.
In this kind of inspiration, this wild enthusiasm,
they believed thoroughly ; Yahweh was the God
of the nation ; to do His bidding, to conquer
His foes, was both patriotic and religious, it was
the highest act of worship. To expect these
men to appear before us as conventional Christian
saints is absurd. The virtue of noble tolerance,
the gift of gentle courtesy, is something that we,
10

146 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
with all our advantages, have not fully reached.
They had rough work to do, and often they did
it in a rough fashion. At times we may be
tempted to feel ashamed of those rude fellows,
but most of those to whom we are indebted were
strong, clear-headed, true-hearted men, who
placed their brawny arms and active brains at the
service of their God and their tribe. Without
their loyal, chivalrous devotion to the name and
worship of Yahweh, their tiny nation would have
been blotted out and its services lost to humanity.
Time would fail us to tell the story of Gideon and
Jephthah, David or Barak, but it is a tale worth
telling, and a tale that needs to be translated into
modern life. In the politics of our time we need
more intelligent, heroic zeal for God, that is, for
truth and righteousness. The Hebrew, when the
lines had fallen unto him in pleasant places and
he had a goodly heritage, did not altogether for
get that by God's grace this was due to strong,
courageous men of the past who had fought a
good fight.
We must also acknowledge the services of the
puritans and conservatives, of the men who
practised total abstinence and preached "the
simple life." These men were to some extent
old-fashioned, and the thing that they fought
for so strenuously was only a part of the truth.
Memories of the stern life of the wilderness
lingered in the minds of these men, and their

vn.] • Early Hebrew Religion 147
religion was of the simple, severe kind suited to
the desert. They saw clearly the disadvantages
of city life, and they were not prepared to sing
the praises of civilisation. They saw many a
youthful Samson lose his strength and fail of his
vocation through wine or false companionship.
Mere abstinence and protest cannot save a nation ;
the city is here, and it must be made clean ; the
land is here, and its produce should be used in
the highest service of God and man. True, but
the fact remains that the ancient puritans and con
servatives did render real service to the life of the
nation and to the religion of Yahweh. It may
be that the highest ideal is not the simple life in
any formal sense, but simplicity of spirit that uses
things rightly and maintains a fine balance and
symmetry. Yet we have cause to thank God for
Elijah, John the Baptist, and lesser men of the
same breed ; men who exalt bare manhood as
against mere things ; men who protest against
worship of mere furniture, and show us that the
living" man can cherish a noble independence.
Certainly these stern, traditional, dogmatic men,
with their unbending opposition to new ways,
acted as a bulwark against the tide of Canaanite
luxury and licentiousness. They fought with
sword and spear, and bore down men who had
been weakened by impure living ; but they fought
also against those subtle influences which are
most perilous in the hour of prosperity. They

148 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
had their lonely vigils, stern resolves, and powerful
prayers ; the spirit of Yahweh working mightily in
them made them determined that the good things
of the past should not be lost. Such puritanism
and conservatism, separating itself and claiming a
perfection of its own, may, in quiet times, become
very narrow and barren, but in days of strife, as
a factor in the nation's life by the side of other
forces, it may be powerful for good, and it forms
part of God's manifold message.
There were prophets and priests in those days,
but it is difficult to give a full and exact descrip
tion of their activity. The probability is that
they did not differ so much as in later times.
The priest being bound to a particular sanctuary
and belonging to a hereditary caste, became more
easily the creature of custom than the prophet.
The lowest kind of prophet might be a vagrant,
living by his wits and possessing little of that
real wisdom that comes from above. The true
prophet was always a thinker, a seeker after God,
a believer in visions and voices, an idealist, a
poet. As the human spirit always retains some
measure of its original freedom and refuses to
acknowledge the finality of classes and labels,
sometimes the priest was also a prophet, and the
prophet might fall into ritualistic, conventional
ruts. From the better class of these men have
come to us ancient stories which have passed
through many forms and played many parts ;

VII.] Early Hebrew Religion 149
stories in which the old and the new mingle
strangely, and in which we can clearly piark the
upward movement of the human spirit in its
search after truth.
Some of our sober conservative scholars are
anxious to exalt as highly as possible the char
acter of the earliest prophets ; they appear to
think it impossible that God can have used, in
helping forward a great movement, people who
in any way resembled "dervishes" or "ranters."
Sitting quietly in the study and trying to arrange
history on certain lines of refinement and respecta
bility, that attitude of mind may be quite natural.
And yet we profess to believe the statement of
the Apostle Paul, that we have first " the natural "
and then "the spiritual"; and in our own time
we have the object-lesson of the Salvation Army
beginning its career with a considerable amount
of "ranting," and yet living to become an eco
nomic force as well as a real religious influence.
There is no need to be surprised that in early
Israel, among a people much more given to
violent expression of emotion than ourselves,
there were enthusiasts, men in whom religious
feeling and patriotic passion produced an excite
ment that seemed akin to madness. The roving
bands of enthusiastic worshippers of Yahweh in
their missionary tours sought to kindle the fire
of piety and fan the flame of patriotism. Such re
vivals, often running to wildness and excess, did

150 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
on the whole serve a good purpose ; and whatever
disadvantages they may have had, they are the
marks, on ohe side, of a living religion which
owes its revival not merely to quiet meditation,
but to the passionate longing and eager hopes of
the common people. The great prophets are
not merely emotionalists, they have risen to a
loftier height of reason and morality, but still
they show traces of their relation to their more
violent and ecstatic brethren.
Speaking of the statement that Saul was caught
by the contagion of this enthusiasm and carried
away by the whirl of excitement, Professor Budde
writes on this subject in a scientific style, but at
the same time in a sympathetic spirit, as the
following passage may show. " Of the demean
our of the prophets of this period we get a
sufficiently clear conception from this story, and
many another narrative of even much later origin
presents the same picture. More than once,
prophet and madman are synonymous. If we
would picture them to ourselves, we need only
think of the dervishes of the Mohammedan world
or the flagellants and similar enthusiasts in
mediaeval Christianity. The comparison extends
further than the outward demeanour. For just
as the flagellants were the promoters of a pro
found movement of penitence, by which it was
hoped the fearful judgment of the plague might
be averted, and as the dervishes seek to rally the

VII.] Early Hebrew Religion 151
forces and determination of the Mohammedan
world against the mighty strides of Christianity,
and have actually turned their aspiration into
accomplished fact to the extent of forming
kingdoms; so the ecstasy of the prophet bands
in Samuel's time was no mere symptom, no mere
religious exercise which recedes into itself. The
prophets also, as well as dervishes and flagellants,
must have pursued a religio-national aim. We
can conceive no other than the shaking off of the
Philistine yoke by means of the purer and more
zealous worship of Yahweh. And that which the
circumstances of the time suggest is confirmed in
fullest degree by the deeds of the single prominent
personality within their circle, the neophyte Saul.
For, when the prophetic spirit seizes him for the
second time, his wrath compels his reluctant
countrymen to hasten to Jabesh-Gilead to the
help of their brethren, and he overcomes the
insolent Ammonites. From this the raising of
Saul to the kingship and the war with the Philis
tines follow as a matter of course ; no one expects
anything else of him. During the critical struggle
we find in him the scrupulously devout servant of
Yahweh, anxiously watching that nothing be
neglected which may make sure of His favour.
The off-repeated consultation of the oracle of
Yahweh ; the fasting of all the warriors until the
victory is won ; the dread of Yahweh's displeasure
as the hungry people seize the cattle of the enemy

152 Early Hebrew Religion [chap.
and slaughter without ritual observances ; the
grim determination with which he ascertains
through the oracle the guilt of his son Jonathan
and is resolved upon his death ; and, lastly, the
gloomy ' redemption ' effected by the people, no
doubt by the substitution of another victim, — all
these are cumulative proofs of the view here pre
sented " (Budde, Religion of Israel to the Exile,
P- 97)-
This is quite different from the old dogmatic
treatment of Hebrew history and literature, but
even those who are opposed to it have to admit
that it makes our study of it more fresh and
living ; when thus carefully examined and sym
pathetically interpreted, the facts give us a real
revelation of human experience, and enable us to
form some helpful pictures of religious life in
those ancient days, with all its turbulence, con
fusion, and changefulness. The conclusion, then,
that we draw is that early Hebrew religion was
in its outward circumstances much like that of the
other Semitic tribes of those days, and that it
became different and nobler through the influence
of God-inspired men who, because of their clearer
vision, were able to lead their fellow-men into
higher thought and life. We still meet in the
records reminders of many things that we in our
day are compelled to regard as rude and super
stitious, but we see men with their faces towards
the light, and in their tragic struggles there is a

VII.] Early Hebrew Religion 153
promise of better things. We see a nation in the
making, and a religion coming to clearness and
power. The Hebrew people have much in
common with nations of similar ancestry, and they
owe much to the past ; but they have their own
independent life, their religion also possesses that
kind of originality that belongs to the highest
efforts of human genius and the greatest gifts of
God. It has to be viewed, not in scattered
details, but as a large growing movement ; then
it appears as one of the most interesting chapters
in human history as well as a true revelation of
divine guidance and blessing.

CHAPTER VIIL
STRUGGLES AND SURVIVALS.
The critical study of ancient Hebrew life tends
to make the idea of "revelation" less abstract
and dogmatic, more real and living. We no
longer think that a perfect theology was imparted
to men at the creation of the world or at the
beginning of Hebrew history. By treating the
Bible as any great literature ought to be treated,
according to fair and honest principles of
interpretation we come to a fuller recognition of
its unique character and wonderful power. By
investigating the history of the Hebrew people
according to the same rules of evidence which
we apply in every other sphere, we gain a clearer
impression of the God-given mission of a people
who from the worldly point of view appeared
insignificant. Stade, referring to the fact that
the Exodus was from the standpoint of the
Egyptians an insignificant event, makes the
appropriate and suggestive statement that "the
Divine walks on the earth everywhere in the
form of a servant" (Stade, Biblische Theologie des

chap, vni.] Struggles and Survivals 155
A.T. p. 30). And this statement applies to the
whole of this remarkable history ; we are only
beginning to understand its full significance.
And the more we leave abstract theories of
revelation, and study the actual circumstances in
and through which the religion grew, the richer
and more real does this significance become.
If our present purpose were apologetic, we could
quote many witnesses on this point. In a book to
which we shall need to refer again, a book written
to show how much of the Primitive Semitic
Religion still exists in Palestine to-day, we read
these strong sincere words : "While it seems to
me that we find abundant evidences of develop
ment in the Old Testament, from very simple
concrete representations of God to those which
are profoundly spiritual, I am not able to account
for this development on naturalistic principles.
In it I see God at all times and everywhere co-
working with human instruments until the fulness
of times should come. The messages which we
find in the Old Testament seem all the more divine
to me because of the great gulf which is fixed
between primitive Semitic conceptions of God
and the noble, spiritual views of Him set forth
under divine illumination by an Isaiah. The great
prophet is a product of many ages of divine revela
tion and teaching, and cannot be accounted for as
a natural representative of his age and people "
(Curtiss, Primitive Semitic Religion To-day, p. 14).

156 struggles and Survivals [chap.
That statement is profoundly true, although
there is also a sense in which Isaiah was a natural
representative of that which was highest and best
in the life of his people, while being through
God's grace the creator of something that was
still higher and better. Similar are the words
which one of the ablest writers on the subject of
Hebrew religion uses with regard to Moses and
his work ; he says, "In the case of Moses it is the
peculiar character of the new ideas promulgated
by him that forbids us to derive these from his
own reflexions or to ascribe them to shrewd
calculations for selfish ends. Upon the founda
tion laid by him there has arisen in the course of
three thousand years the building which includes
also the Christian nations. But the laying of a
foundation like this is beyond a man's power ; the
capacity must have been given him by God. And
on this very account the importance of the person
ality of Moses can hardly be exaggerated. Such is
the conviction of the Deuteronomistic author of
Deut. xxxiv. 10 when he remarks : ' There hath not
arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses,
whom the Lord knew face to face'" (Kautzsch,
art. Hastings' ^«^/(? Diet. v. 625). We may accept
this statement fully and yet acknowledge that,
though a religion can be founded only once and
its founder must have a unique spiritual gift, yet
the foundation would have been in vain unless
God had given wise master-builders in the

VIII.] struggles and Survivals 157
succeeding ages. A frank and full acceptance of
the fact that the religion itself passed through
a real development enables us to measure the
significance of each man's work ; and at the
same time shows us that it was not a natural
product of the soil in any shallow, materialistic
sense. When we pass from the pure lofty
teaching of our Lord and such great expounders
of Christian truth as Paul and John into the Old
Testament, we feel as if we had gone from a
brilliantly lighted room into a darkened chamber ;
but if we try a different process, namely, to read
a fair impartial account of ancient Canaanite
religion and then turn to even the earlier and
cruder parts of the Hebrew history, we find that
the light is clear and strong compared with the
dense darkness of the world outside. But that is
no reason why we should think of Moses, Amos,
Isaiah, and other pioneers as perfect theologians of
the Anglican, Presbyterian, or any other modern
type. All through this book there has been
with me the twofold conviction that there is
something creative, that is, divine, in the move
ment of Hebrew history and the growth of
Israelitish religion ; and that this divine element
is most clearly seen when we, as a result of a
critical examination of the documents, watch
this distinctive faith fighting its way through
all kinds of hindering circumstances and natural
entanglements.

158 struggles and Survivals [chap.
Dr. Robertson Smith states the case very clearly
in the following words: "Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam are positive religions, that is, they did
not grow up like the systems of ancient heathen
ism, under the action of unconscious forces operat
ing silently from age to age, but trace their origin
to the teaching of great religious innovators, who
spoke as the organs of a divine revelation, and
deliberately departed from the traditions of the
past. Behind these positive religions lies the
old unconscious religious tradition, the body of
religious usage and belief which cannot be traced
to the influence of individual minds, and was not
propagated on individual authority, but formed a
part of that inheritance from the past into which
successive generations of the Semitic race grew up
as it were instinctively, taking it as a matter of
course that they should believe and act as their
fathers had done before them. The positive
Semitic religions had to establish themselves on
ground already occupied by these older beliefs
and usages ; they had to displace what they
could not assimilate, and whether they rejected or
absorbed the elements of the older religion, they
had at every point to reckon with them and take
up a definite attitude towards them. No positive
religion that has moved men has been able to start
with a tabula rasa, and express itself as if religion
were beginning for the first time ; in form, if not
in substance, the new system must be in contact

VIII.] struggles and Survivals 159
all along the line with the older ideas and prac
tices which it finds in possession. A new scheme
of faith can find a hearing only by appealing to
religious instincts and susceptibilities that already
exist in its audience, and it cannot reach these
without taking account of the traditional forms in
which all religious feeling is embodied, and without
speaking a language which men accustomed to
these old forms can understand. Thus to compre
hend a system of positive religion thoroughly, to
understand it in its historical origin and form as
well as in its abstract principles, we must know the
traditional religion that preceded it " (W. Robert
son Smith, The Religion of the Semites, pp. i, 2).
Of course, we cannot expect preachers and
expositors of the Old Testament to be specialists
in this modern study of comparative religion ; for
in these days the man who is "a specialist," in
any strict sense, must give his most strenuous
labour to a very narrow field ; but it is helpful to
the interpreter to know something of the back
ground that lies behind both the life and literature
of this people. Besides the apologetic side, to
which reference has already been made, there are
two other advantages in this study of survivals.
In leading us to understand the life of the past, it
gives us power to criticise in a sympathetic spirit
the life of our own time. In the dogmas of the
Church and in the religious life of the people
there are still modes of thought and customs that

i6o Struggles and Survivals [chap.
survive from the distant past, relics of what we
call paganism. Some of these things may be
harmful, calling for courageous opposition ; others
may be forms of backwardness that need to be
dealt with gently ; while others may be simply
antiquarian relics, poetic and picturesque. Such
a thing as Mormonism is not only "out of date,"
that is, a grotesque survival or revival from
primitive times basing itself on a crude idea of
revelation ; it is from its very nature a menace
to society. The belief held by some " ranters "
of our day, that to have a good time in the
spiritual sense, "to be filled with the Spirit," one
must be thrown into an abnormal hysterical
condition, is a survival of something that was
common in early Semitic religion, but in the
light of the highest prophetic life it is seen to
be childish. Pre-Christian customs and usages
that cling to Christmas and New Year festivals
may be of slight importance now from the point
of view of religion, but they show us the tenacity
of old rites and the transforming power of a new
living faith. The study of "origins" may be
handled so as to become a small antiquarian fad,
a piece of helpless dilettanteism ; at least, we are
sometimes warned to that effect. But surely
there should be little danger of this in the case
of the earnest, thoughtful preacher who finds
" primitive man " in the life of many people
around him, and at times in his own heart. In

vni.] Struggles and Survivals i6i
this case it is the results and not the processes
that must come into the pulpit ; and if those
results are given in a wise manner they will
surely make for edification as well as instruction.
It is not only interesting to the people, it is good
for them in the highest spiritual sense, to learn
that our loftiest thoughts of God and religion did
not drop ready-made from the sky, but grew by
painful process in which the guidance of God has
been beautifully blended with the life of man.
When we come to details of this kind, we shall
find that it is possible to have differences of
opinion on many points among those who hold
similar views as to the age and nature of the
documents. Even where the fact of development,
in the fullest sense, is not grudgingly conceded
but freely welcomed, it is not possible to have
agreement as to the exact nature and course
of such development. The records are scanty,
the questions are delicate and perplexing; here
as elsewhere it is difficult to compress all the
facts of life into a narrow scheme or formula.
The question of Totemism in its relation to
the life of the Hebrew people is one that has
provoked considerable discussion without leading
to anything like unanimity. Fortunately it is
not of direct and immediate importance to the
expositor, though it is well for each student to
try to form an opinion of his own with regard
to it. It may be that Professor Kautzsch has

1 62 struggles and Survivals [chap.
dismissed the argument in favour of Totemism
in a somewhat summary fashion, but it is scarcely
wise for the young preacher, full of zeal for
modern methods, to compare the early Hebrews
to savage Indians with totem-poles, when a
scholar of such high standing can say deliberately
that " upon the whole we must conclude once
more that, while it is certainly possible that
Totemism once prevailed in Israel, its prevalence
cannot be proved ; and, above all, we must hold
that the religion of Israel as it presents itself in
the Old Testament has not retained the very
slightest recollection of such a state of things"
(article in Hastings' D.B. v. 613). Professor
Marti, an able scholar and keen critic, is equally
strong on the same side ; he says, " Totemism is
not yet proved for the ancestors of the Israelites "
(Marti, Geschichte des I sraelitischen Religion,
p. 24). Stade, on the other hand, seems to find
remains of totemism in some of the clan names.
Robertson Smith, who examined the matter
thoroughly, tells us that "at the stage which
even the rudest Semitic peoples had reached
when they first become known to us, it would
be absurd to expect to find examples of totemism
pure and simple. What we may expect to find
is the fragmentary survival of totem ideas, in the
shape of special associations between certain kinds
of animals on the one hand, and certain tribes or
religious communities and their gods on the other

VIII.] struggles and Survivals 163
hand. And of evidence of this kind there is,
we shall see, no lack in Semitic antiquity" {The
Religion of the Semites, p. 425). If this is as far
as we can go, such statements as the following
from a recent text-book are apt to be misleading :
" That Totemism was common in early Israel,
and that it played a large part in the social life
of the time, seems probable." " That Israel was
emerging from a totemistic stage of social life at
the time of the settlement is probable ; though
how long the people were in ridding themselves
of its thraldom it is impossible to say " (Day,
Social Life of the Hebrews, p. 94). Of course,
"probable" is a somewhat elastic word, but here
it seems to be stronger than the evidence warrants.
It can scarcely be claimed that totemism has left
clear and numerous marks on Old Testament
literature. On the classic passage, Ezek. viii. 9, it ^
is said that " we have a clear case of the re-
emergence into the light of day of a cult of the
most primitive totem type, which had been
banished for centuries from public religion, but
must have been kept alive in obscure circles of
private or local superstition, and sprang up again
on the ruins of the national faith, like some
noxious weed in the courts of a deserted
temple " (W. Robertson Smith, Religion of the
Semites, p. 338). If it had been banished for
centuries from public worship it must have been
prehistoric so far as the Hebrew people were

164 struggles and Survivals [chap.
concerned ; what we call, in the proper sense,
the Hebrew religion is far above this primitive
stage when we first meet it. We know that this
purer religion had to fight not only against
Canaanite Baalism and Babylonian star-worship,
but also against magical superstitions that con
tained in themselves relics of ancient barbarism.
With regard to Ancestor Worship there is a
similar diversity of opinion. To some scholars
the theory that the worship of ancestors once
prevailed among the Israelites seems to be the
best explanation of certain facts, such as the
mourning customs, the sacred pillars placed on
graves (Gen. xxxv. 8, 20), the name "elohim"
given to the dead, the sacrificial family or clan
feast (i Sam. xx. 29). But here again each step
of the proof is contested, and each fact is shown
to be susceptible of a different interpretation.
Here again we have to conclude that, if ever
this practice was living and prevalent among the
Hebrews, it was so long ago that it has been
forgotten by those who wrote the documents
which have come down to us. " If Ancestor
Worship ever prevailed in the pre-Mosaic period,
— and it is psychologically quite conceivable that
respect for the dead bodies and the tombs of
parents inspired at least tendencies to a kind of
Ancestor Worship, — no consciousness of this
survived to historical times, and the whole
question, as was remarked before, has at best

VIII.] struggles and Survivals 165
an interest from the point of view of Archae
ology but not of Biblical Theology" (Kautzsch,
Hastings' D.B. v. 615).
It is generally held now that the pre-Mosaic
beliefs of the Hebrew people are largely coloured
by " Animism " or " Polydemonism." There are
some who would like to show that a regular
development can be traced from Animism to
Ancestor Worship, from this to Polytheism, and
then on to Monotheism. It is not our business
to discuss whether this form of development has
been carried out elsewhere ; confining ourselves
to the history of Israel, we must admit that it is
difficult to compress the facts into any such
scheme. The ministry of living, God-inspired
men broke in upon what we would call the
"natural order," and produced a continual conflict
between the old and the new; the new thought
could not reveal its character at once, it must have
its development ; what the nature of the battle was
and what its great results were, we must be willing
to learn from actual history and not from any
abstract scheme of evolution. In later days the
poet can utter in sublime language the thought
that God is everywhere (Ps. cxxxix. 8, 9), but
it is not in that form that the truth first comes
to men. Particular gods or spiritual beings are
connected with particular places ; many sanctuaries
are found near sacred trees and fountains where
gods or spirits had originally manifested them-

1 66 Struggles and Survivals [chap.
selves. In our records we see that these
sanctuaries are claimed as places where Yahweh,
the one God of Israel, had appeared to the
patriarchs and heroes of the past, but it is not
difficult to see the original meaning shining
through the later interpretation. In still later
times, prophets and reformers denounced these
sanctuaries and the corrupt worship that had
now gathered round them. Mingled with keen
terror, and the disorders produced by ignorance
and fear, there was much poetry and some real
piety in those recognitions of spiritual beings and
in the worship of natural forces. These old beliefs
and customs still linger on in the land that gave
them birth; there is a certain deep truth in the
phrase, "the unchanging East"; it is a region
where men cling with great tenacity to ancient
modes of thought and time-honoured usages. But
what we are face to face with in the Old Testa
ment is the growth of a living religion which
shines out clearly against this Semitic background
and advances steadily towards the perfect day.
Even if we admit that local and tribal elements to
the last cling to the Hebrew idea of God, these
are virtually transcended in the teaching of the
great spiritual leaders. In the earlier days the
beliefs of the most enlightened men were limited
and simple, and among the more ignorant people
the demonology to which we find in the Old
Testament only scant reference was luxuriant

VIII.] struggles and Survivals 167
and influential. The law and the prophets
conspired to transform or cast away customs
that could not be reconciled with pure faith in the
one living God.
Without entering into the nature or wisdom of
what is called in these days "psychical research,"
one can surely maintain that, connected with
much of the modern spiritualism and the pursuit
of the " occult," there is a mixture of trickery and
superstition that is not creditable to human nature.
One can understand that kind of thing three
thousand years ago when "science" was almost
unknown, and when the gods and demons that had
been so real were still struggling for their lives ;
but we can also admire men like Isaiah, Jeremiah,
and Ezekiel, whose faith in a great intelligent God
was so real that they could speak with fiery scorn
of those who were driven by superstitious fears or
spiritual hunger to all kinds of magic and false
spiritualism. This strong, honest word comes to
us across the ages. " And when they shall say
unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar
spirits, and unto the wizards that chirp and
mutter : should not a people seek unto their God ?
on behalf of the living should they seek unto the
dead?" (Isa. viii. 19). This was the faith of
men who found God in the light, and did not need
to seek Him in the darkness. Those who pre
served these interesting but fragmentary records
for us have purified the literature, and have, as

1 68 Struggles and Survivals [chap.
far as possible, banished evil and inferior spirits ;
the few survivals on the written page only faintly
represent the popular superstitions that prevailed
and filled men's lives with morbid terror and
foreboding gloom.
The question of human sacrifice is a point that
raises many difficult questions. The sacrifice of
human beings does not belong to " Hebrew
religion" in the sense in which tha.t phrase is
used in this book, that is, it was never a part of
the genuine worship of Yahweh. But it was
practised by Israel's neighbours, and therefore
probably by the tribes from which Israel sprang
in the prehistoric times. An old law in Israel
commanded that the male firstborn must be given
to Yahweh ; but this was probably interpreted by
the law that provided for the redemption of the
firstborn. Such sacrifices in Israel were excep
tional. We find them as a consequence of a rash
vow in the case of Jephthah, and probably in the
case of Saul also. In later times, when, through
national calamity, the people lost faith in their
God and failed to keep pace with the movement
of their teachers, we have a pretty extensive out
break of these evil practices. But we find the
real leaders of Israel's religion always strongly
opposed to this ancient custom. One of the
noblest stories of all those that cluster round the
name of Abraham shows that Yahweh does not
really desire or demand such sacrifice ; it is

VIII.] struggles and Survivals 169
definitely rejected in one of the finest passages in
prophetic literature (Micah vi.). Jeremiah and
Ezekiel, who hacjl to face the disorders of a time
when the nation Was shaken and almost destroyed,
declaim against it as a cruel superstition in which
Yahweh can have no delight. The sacrifice of
children to the gods had been widespread from
ancient times, but from very early times the real
representatives of Hebrew religion seem to have
seen that it was not consistent with the character
of their God. 1 1 must have been a lofty thought
of God expressing itself in prophecy and law that
was able to disown and shake off a custom that
had such a strong hold in those religions, and
that tended to revive so easily in every time of
darkness and danger.
This is clear as far as child-sacrifice is con
cerned ; but if we use the word sacrifice in a loose
sense and apply it to the slaughter of enemies
and the execution of criminals, then we may have
to admit that it was at one time consistent with
Hebrew religion. Is it a sacrifice when Samuel
hews Agag in pieces before Yahweh, or when
David causes the seven sons of Saul to be hung
up before Yahweh ? Different answers are given
to this question. Certainly these actions had a
religious tone, for in those days religion was not a
thing apart, it ruled in all spheres ; but we can
scarcely call these sacrifices in the strictest sense.
And yet it is difficult to draw the line, as there is

170 struggles and Survivals [chap.
in such cases not merely the idea of punishment
to the sufferer, but also the thought of expiation,
of making things right with a God who is jealous
as well as just.
From this we easily pass to the consideration
of the herem or ban. In modern times we have
been told that "war is hell," and certainly it was
not a mild, kid-glove performance in ancient days.
We show our progress by killing more men in a
given time, and, at the same time, we try to make
the game as civilised and gentlemanly as possible.
The ban was originally a war custom, and con
sisted in "devoting" the enemy and all his
belongings to destruction (Num. xxi. 2 ; Josh.
vi. 17; I Sam. XV. 3). This was an ancient
Semitic idea, and in Israel this kind of homage
was paid to and demanded for Yahweh as the
war-god, the leader and deliverer of His people.
If we do not class this also under the head of
sacrifice, we must say with Kautzsch, that "the
religious element is found in the complete sur
render of any profit from the victory ; and this
renunciation is an expression of gratitude for the
fact that the war-god has delivered the enemy,
who is His enemy also, and all his substance
into the hands of the conqueror." The earliest
practice seems to have required the destruction of
all property and every living creature in the con
quered city ; but afterwards it was modified and
made milder. It is quite clear that it was not

vui.] struggles and Survivals 171
easy to soften cruel customs when they were so
thoroughly steeped in religious motives, and to
the last there remained in the old religion too
much of the feeling that a man should love his
kinsfolk and hate those who were different in
blood and religion. Too often this survives with
us in actual life, though in creed we profess to
have passed far beyond it.
It is impossible in a brief survey to deal with
such subjects as slavery, polygamy, blood revenge,
and other forms of ancient Semitic life that have
been transformed and purified by the power of a
living, growing religion. All these things and
many others quite as repulsive to us could be
proved and supported from the Bible if it is treated
in a crude, mechanical fashion ; in fact, the his
torical method applied intelligently and reverently
is the only thing that can save us from a gross
abuse of Scripture which has been too common
in the past. We must find the line of the higher
movement, then we can distinguish the real
evolution from the stubborn but outworn sur
vivals ; then we can see the guiding hand of our
God and hear what the Spirit saith unto the
Churches. When we stand in the presence of
the Lord Jesus, we hear Him declaring that many
of the old things must pass away in order to give
place to a fuller knowledge of God and a larger
charity towards man.
With a brief reference to the more distinctly

172 struggles and Survivals [chap.
theological side of this question we must close.
Very persistent in the Old Testament is the idea
of the association of calamity and sin. We find
it in the story of the Flood, it lies behind the
interpretation of nature in the story of the famine
in the days of David. The writer of the seventy-
third Psalm wrestles with it, it furnishes the theme
for the mighty struggles in the Book of Job,
and receives its condemnation in the wonderful
Poem of the Suffering Servant. Yet it survives,
and in the days of our Lord men have to be
reminded that those upon whom the Tower of
Siloam fell were not proved by that to be greater
sinners than their fellow-men. And still the old
idea survives and is a part of our popular belief,
in dark hours it is almost an instinctive feeling,
and at times it is preached from Christian pulpits.
The idea would not survive if it were false
through and through ; there are truths connected
with it, and it is the duty of the expositors to find
the truth and translate it into modern forms,
forms consistent with our latest science as well as
with our noblest piety.
Another region in which the growth was slow
was the rise of a pure hope of immortality among
the Hebrew people. Within the canonical writ
ings we have only the first beginnings of such a
doctrine and the first gleams of this mighty hope ;
and then only in the latest part. In other
religions, as those of Egypt and Babylon, there

VIII.] struggles and Survivals 173
were scholarly speculations, popular fancies and
ancient superstitions concerning the world of the
dead. But here again an intelligent treatment of
the documents shows us that these things were
not carried over into Hebrew religion in any
mechanical fashion. It is now seen that Egyptian
theology exercised practically no influence on
early Hebrew religion. That religion in its
earliest stage was most concerned with the prac
tical problems of the present life. Among the
people of Canaan and among the Hebrews after
they settled in the country, views of a dark
underworld of the dead similar to those held in
Babylonia and other lands no doubt prevailed.
This was a fertile field cultivated by magicians
and spiritualists of many kinds. The Hebrew
religion, or, if we like to use a wider term. Old
Testament literature, did not create this particular
world of ideas, it was the growth of previous
centuries. Considering that the record covers a
thousand years, we do not read very much about
demonology and necromancy, but there are indica
tions that it is there as a dark background and
as a subtle foe of the new faith. From what is
known of the life of Babylon and the Palestinian
tribes, we can fill up the lack and amplify the
hints. We do not find in early Israel any formal
creed as to the future life. But over against this
dark background there begins to emerge in later
days the hope of personal immortality. To us it

174 Struggles and Survivals [chap. vin.
may appear strange that there ever was a time
when it seemed a sufficient programme that a man
should serve God and his country to a good old
age and then be peacefully gathered to his fathers,
or that in early days Yahweh's sovereignty was
not fully realised as extending into that unknown
world. We cannot fall back to that condition
without spiritual loss, but it was possible for saints
with simpler theological ideas to cherish a lofty
ideal. If in later times the Hebrew development
was, in this particular, influenced from outside,
it was because they had by their own growth
reached a stage when they could face such specu
lations with intelligence and sympathy. We
cannot now discuss that in detail, our point is
simply that, in so far as the thought of personal
immortality was reached by Hebrew thinkers, it
was not a matter of speculation in the merely
intellectual sense, there was logic in it, in a deep
sense it was the conclusion drawn by the believer
from his lofty faith in God, a faith that had taken
centuries to reach maturity. Men came to feel
that Yahweh was not merely the God of history
who cared for the corporate life of the nation,
but that there was a personal, spiritual bond
which might resist even the terrible strain of
death : "Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and
there is none upon earth that I desire beside
Thee," was one of the mightiest words of Hebrew
faith.

CHAPTER IX
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The question before us is one that will seem to
many people to be quite superfluous at this time
of day, and in the present connection : it is this.
Is it possible, according to the evidence presented
by existing documents, to prove that there is such
a thing as genuine historical development in the
religion of the Hebrew people ? Still, it may not
be an altogether useless exercise to try to make
our ideas a little clearer as to what we mean by
"historical development," and as to what can be
regarded as proper proofs and illustrations of the
same. Of course, in some measure there has
always been a recognition of the facts of develop
ment or progress ; whenever men have come to
the stage where historical material was accumu
lated and were in a position to reflect upon their
past, they have gained a glimpse, even if dim, of
the upward movement of humanity. They may
have differed in regard to the question whether
the world was growing better or worse, but they
saw clearly that there was in many spheres a

176 Historical Developtnent [chap.
movement from lower to higher, from simpler
to more complex, from natural to spiritual. The
writers of the Old Testament recognise this, and
it is stated clearly by St. Paul and the author of
the Epistle to the Hebrews. Thus, while the
idea of "evolution" is in one sense very modern,
it is, in another, exceedingly ancient ; the thought
has gained a wider range, a deeper meaning, and
a wonderful variety of illustration.
When we come to discuss this point in con
nection with Old Testament literature, the ques
tion as to the dates of particular documents is
seen to be of very great importance. Just here
the charge is frequently made that we are for ever
reasoning in a circle ; we exhibit late ideas from
a late document, but we also prove that a docu
ment is late from the nature of the ideas that it
expresses ; thus the reasoning of the critics is
vicious and confusing. If this were so, and there
is some truth in the statement, everything would
be in a condition of uncertainty, and criticism
would be a hopeless business. There are,
however, some fixed points, some books which
we know to be late, and other books or parts of
books which are admitted to be early, and these
are sufficient for our present modest purpose.
Those of us who are in sympathy with the
modern movement believe that, after much
uncertainty and through many complex investi
gations, certain broad lines of development in

IX.] Historical Development 177
regard to political history, religious thought and
Church institutions have been worked out with
a fair measure of clearness, and that these can
now be used as a standard in dealing with
doubtful cases. We confess that these are
delicate operations, and that the investigator
needs to be on his guard against his own
particular bias.
There is no need to remind intelligent people
that this is not a simple matter ; it cannot be
represented by a straight line starting at one
point and ending at another ; in fact, when we
are dealing with life all mathematical symbols and
similes fail us ; there are not only ups and downs,
actions and reactions, circling movements and
forward struggles, there are also all kinds of
issues and detailed developments that surround
and complicate the general situation.
Further, there should be little need to protest
against the charge that in laying emphasis upon
such development we are giving way to " natural
istic theory " and falling into sceptical modes of
thought. Those who make this charge are not
able to give us any clear and consistent statement
as to the relation of the natural and the super
natural. Any one who cares to examine Dr.
Orr's book may find that he has a rationalism
of his own while he regards the rationalism of
other people as dangerous and irreverent. That
attitude of mind is probably one of the peculiar

178 Historical Development [chap.
dangers of theological study. In any case we
must believe in development ; even if we attach
great importance to special interpositions in the
great crises of the world's history, we must still
believe that God is working through the constant
activities of nature and human life. The worst
kind of scepticism would be a theory that tended
to limit divine action to sudden mysterious move
ments. Development in a large sense means
a progressive movement beyond the control of
individuals or parties ; it is the very process
that implies God ; it means order and purpose,
in other words, the thought and action of the
great God who is behind all things.
The fact of development in itself does not tell
us anything as to the nature of the particular
stage involved ; the fact that one thing follows
another and depends upon that other does not
determine its character as higher or lower ; that
must be separately investigated, each thing must
be permitted to speak for itself. When we say
that there must be poetry first before you can
have rules of poetry, or that the spontaneous
creative movement comes before criticism, you
do not by that statement imply that the critical
analysis is higher than the creative act, but you
do maintain that there is a development in this
sense, that one process had to arise before the
other could come into existence ; and when the
first had once gained full play, the second, in the

IX.] Historical Development 179
regular course of things, was sure to arise. In
other words, we can show that between things
and thoughts there exists a logical, reasonable, or
necessary connection ; every one of these con
nections, infinitely varied as they are, speaks of
intelligence behind the events, and of purpose
in the history. Surely, then, it is very strange
that some who claim to have a monopoly of
orthodoxy should regard this process as a thing
that has in itself a sceptical bias, instead of being,
in the hands of reverent men, a tracing of God's
action in human life.
We will consider different ways of looking at
this subject; let us take first Dr. Robertson's
statement: "But now, if the knowledge of God
in a pure form is to be placed so far back in
history, and made to start with a simple revelation
to Abraham, what becomes of development ?
Well, in the first place, the modern theory also
has to postulate a starting-point ; and, we have
seen, its difficulty is marked when it seeks to
place the absolute commencement of a spiritual
religion at a late period. But, in the second
place, the Biblical theory is more conspicuously
a theory of development than the modern one.
It makes the advance of the religious idea really
an unfolding of a germinal conception, not an
advance from one attribute to another, as from
might to holiness, but an expansion of one
fundamental conception into wider references

i8o Historical Development [chap.
and application. And it is a development
marked by historical stadia. From the Being
who made Himself known to the soul of
Abraham, and from- that time onward was the
covenant God of one nation, faithful to His
word, even though His people should be un
faithful on their part, we can trace an unbroken
development to the God of all the families of
mankind. For if He defends His own people
from their enemies, and is at the same time a
merciful God to His own, the idea follows, and we
see it early, that His enemies, by submitting to
Him and casting in their lot with His people, will
share in His people's blessings, and thus the
God of Israel will become, in fact as well as of
right, the God of all. Strictly speaking, the
Old Testament writers never got beyond the
idea of national religion. Though they perceived
that Jahaveh ruled all nations, and acted on
strictly moral and just principles towards all, they
never conceived that there was no difference
between His relation to Israel and His relation
to the nations. In point of fact there was a
difference, as history has proved" (Robertson,
The Early Religion of Israel, p. 480).
For our purpose it is not necessary to quote
the whole paragraph, or to discuss in what sense
Christianity is a development or expansion of
the older faith. At the beginning of the next
paragraph we are told, "Thus from Abraham

IX.] Historical Developme^it i8i
on to the close of national independence there
was a regular and steady development, the idea
of Jahaveh and the conception of what His
religion implied undergoing a steady expansion
in the prophetic teaching, aided by the political
events through which the nation passed" (ibid.
pp. 481-82). If we substitute Moses for Abra
ham, the last sentence will serve very well for
a brief definition of the modern view, but turn
ing back to the fuller statement just quoted we
must make a few brief comments. (i) It is
scarcely fair or wise to oppose "the Biblical
theory " to the modern view, for as a matter
of fact there are various theories in the Bible ;
and the modern view may be stated in such
a way that it is seen to be a fuller, richer
conception of the ancient idea of development
which is found in simpler form in the Hebrew
documents. (2) The difficulty of beginning with
Abraham is an historical one ; we cannot fix
his period with any certainty or definiteness ;
the form in which the traditions that circle
round him have come down to us reflects the
ideas of a later time. Now that we can no
longer start with the creation of the world, we
cannot make an absolute beginning anywhere ;
the most " simple revelation " must connect itself
in some way with what has gone before ; we
would like to go farther back, but a careful
study of the documents compels us to yield to

1 82 Historical Development [chap.
Moses the position of founder of the Hebrew
religion. (3) The modern idea of development,
as we conceive it, is misrepresented in this
paragraph ; it is not a mere advance from one
attribute to another, it is a varied and complex
story of the passage of many truths from a lower
to a higher stage. Take as an illustration the
thought referred to in this passage, that Yahweh's
"enemies by submitting to Him and casting
in their lot with His people, will share in His
people's blessings." This may be an old tribal
belief, meaning that if you will have the blessing
of a particular god you must by certain rites
join the tribe by which he is worshipped ; or
it may be a lofty prophetic thought, as in Isa.
ii. 1-5, where men are drawn to the national
sanctuary because it is the abode of righteous
ness and a centre of pure spiritual influence;
or it may even be a bit of modern sectarianism
on the lips of those who claim an ecclesiastical
monopoly of God's infinite grace. (4) When
we are told that, "strictly speaking, the Old
Testament writers never got beyond the idea
of national religion," we have a statement that
may be misleading if it is taken too literally.
In many places the prophets lay down principles
that are universal in their range and significance ;
there is a noble inconsistency in the Old Testa
ment, and it is just this that gives it its prophetic
character. If you try to magnify the beginnings

IX.] Historical Development 183
of Hebrew religion and minimise its final
achievements, you are not in full sympathy with
the modern view of historical development.
Dr. Orr, one of the most persistent critics
of the critical movement, tells us that " Revela
tion must begin somewhere, and must work
patiently according to the law of historical
development ; must lay hold on what is better
to counterwork and gradually overcome what
is worse ; must be content to implant principles
and bear patiently with much remaining evil, till
the good has time to grow, and to give rise to
an order of things that will supplant the old.
This is the true side of the law of evolution ;
and it applies in grace as well as in nature "
{Problem of the O.T. p. 472). One cannot
help admiring the wonderful facility with which
this scholar seizes the true side of everything,
placing himself firmly at the absolutely correct
position while every one else is floundering in
the mire. He is not satisfied with Duhm's state
ment, that we are driven to accept "the necessity
of providential guidance in the actual stages
of the development of the religion." This is
not high enough ; it does not admit sufficient
of the "supernatural." When Gunkel says,
" The history of revelation transacts itself among
men according to the same psychological laws
as every other human event," Dr. Orr objects
{Problem of the O.T. p. 21) that here revela-

184 Historical Development [chap.
tion is held to be compatible with an abundance
of error and illusion, and hence this word ought;
not to be used ; but when he comes to deal in
detail with the subject, he has to admit substan
tially the same thing, only he is very much
concerned to show that " revelation " is not
responsible for human error and weakness.
Instead of historical development, this apologist
gives us "progressive revelation"; he speaks
of this progressive revelation as if it were a
person with whom he is on intimate terms and
with whose conduct he is quite familiar. Thus
( I ) it must take a man up at the stage at which
it finds him ; (2) it can be responsible only
for the new element which it introduces ; (3) it
has an educational function which can only reach
its end by working with such means as the
imperfect state affords towards the production
of a more perfect. Dr. Orr, of course, has a
perfect right to use this abstract style if he
prefers it, and to create these categories in
which to arrange the well-known facts, but in
doing so he has to admit that " historical develop
ment" is a true conception, which we must
try to understand. " An illustration of the
principle in question is found in the command
to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. In so far as
this command supposes as its background the
heathen custom of the sacrifice of children, it
falls under the two former principles, the revela-

IX.] Historical Development 185
tion takes up a man at the stage at which it
finds him, and is not responsible for the basis
on which it works ; but in so far as it uses
this basis to elicit a singular proof of Abraham's
faith and actually to put the stamp of divine
condemnation on human sacrifice in Israel, it
falls under the third, or educative principle.
For even in this most hateful form of heathen
sacrifice, as has often been pointed out, there
was a nobler element present " (ibid. p. 474). As
a peculiar result, then, of this analysis, we are
brought to the conclusion that revelation did
not create the noble element involved, the idea
of surrendering the best to God ; man could
reach that himself, even a heathen man, but
revelation must come in to conserve and clarify
it. This shows how difficult it is to split such
complex things with our rude axe and separate
the human and divine. On Dr. Orr's whole
treatment of this subject we have to say (i)
it is criticism of its kind, that is, it is an analysis
of the story and explanation of it. It seems to
proceed upon the supposition that we are dealing
with a literal history "of real men " and of God's
revelations and dealings with them. Thus we
have Professor Orr's way of rationalising the
story or making it intelligible and reasonable
to us. Notwithstanding the tone in which such
explanation is given, it is well to remember
that as Protestants we have no infallible authority

1 86 Historical Development [chap.
for settling such matters ; any authority pos
sessed by such an explanation must come from
its inherent reasonableness. (2) If we are
compelled to believe that the story in its
present form belongs to a time centuries later
than that of Abraham, and that in those later
days, when child sacrifice was a real danger to
Israel, noble men were inspired to use such
stories in preaching against that form of sacrifice,
we have another explanation as reasonable, as
reverent, and as consistent with real revelation
as the one before us. (3) What is more to
the point now, when we wish to avoid theology
and confine ourselves as closely as possible
to history, we can see clearly that, whatever
our views may be on great questions of criticism,
we have to acknowledge that in the religion
of the Hebrew people there was a real growth
from a lower and simpler to a higher and richer
life. For ourselves we prefer to use both
phrases, to speak of "historical development"
and " progressive revelation," in that way we
manifest our faith that the life of God and man
is inextricably blended in the whole great move
ment. Dr. Orr shows that he has not a very full and
joyful faith in historical development, by the fact
that he finds it most objectionable that any one,
and particularly any one whom he can class as a
"believing critic," should attempt to prove that

IX.] Historical Development 187
a document is late because it contains "late
ideas." But surely the nature of the ideas in a
document is one of the clues to its character and
date. This line of argument no doubt needs
great knowledge and care for its proper exercise,
but if there is such a thing as historical develop
ment it is a fair and valid kind of argument. If,
for example, we found the spiritual teaching of
Jeremiah and the strong individualism of Ezekiel
in a document without a date, we should never
think of attributing it to the age and circle from
which proceed the stories of the punishment of
Achan and the hanging up of Saul's seven sons
before Yahweh. When we have once taken
the trouble to work our way into the heart of
this great movement we shall find that the form
in which the ideas or truths are presented is a
very important guide as to the age and position
of any piece of literature.
When we turn to books that are written frankly
from the standpoint of development, the atmo
sphere is quite different. Todd's Politics and
Religion in Ancient Israel contains many state
ments which at first may be " shocking " to those
who have been accustomed to think about
religion only on conventional lines, but if it is
read with strength and openness of mind its
treatment of the history will be seen to be
reverent and sympathetic, as well as stimulating.
We are tempted to quote two brief passages ; the

1 88 Historical Development [chap.
first is a warning to those who are seeking to use
the historical method. "In seeking to recover
for ourselves some approximation to the religion
at this early date, whether of the peoples of the
Mediterranean coast in general or of those of the
Levant in particular, we must at once dismiss
from our minds Christianity and other world-
religions which avowedly rest on a reasoned and
moral basis. Equally must we get rid of the
official and organised pantheons of Greece and
Rome, Egypt and Babylon, since they are the
religious counterparts of a complicated political
system. Nor will the later Judaism, worshipping
the Righteous Creator, help us, since it is the
result of a long and strange spiritual education.
" But we must guard with even greater care
against supposing that primitive religion bore
any great resemblance to the horrid cults of
actual savages or of decadent peoples, based on
calculated cruelty and obscenity.
"We shall expect to find the religion analogous
to the other sides of life — simple, joyous, confident,
buoyant ; crude if you will, certainly not more
tender or modest than social life generally ; but
above all expansive, and already containing in it
self the seeds of the worships of Jupiter Optimus,
Maximus, Pallas Athene, Jehovah, and even of
the Almighty ^ Father of the Christian creed "
{Politics and Religion, etc. pp. 35-36). Again,
speaking of the strange primitive use of an

IX.] Historical Development 189
important word " Kodesh," "holy," he says,
" The strangest use of this root is its application
to the harlots who lived in cottages within the
sacred enclosure. These were not loose women
whose presence was winked at ; they were part
of the regular establishment, sacred to the god,
kodesh. A vast amount of virtuous horror has
been expended on this ' frightful ' and ' debasing '
institution ; all of which might very well have been
spared. The prostitutes of our Christian streets
will afford us ample food for moral reflection,
without worrying about these Syrian girls of three
thousand years ago, when sex relations were
understood quite differently. The simple fact is
that primitive man understood worship as ' rejoic
ing before his god,' and accordingly enjoyed
himself in his own way in the temple courts, with
abundance of roast meat and wine, and the
society of, one of the women of the shrine. If
our idea of 'joy in the Lord' is something very
different, it is because we stand at the end and
he at the beginning of a vast education and
development. 'That was not first which is
spiritual, but that which is natural ; and after
ward that which is spiritual'" (ibid. p. 41).
Just two brief remarks on this paragraph : (i)
With regard to the particular institution here
mentioned, it belonged to Canaanite, not Hebrew
religion ; the Hebrews had their own forms of
imperfection and coarseness, but as wanderers

190 Historical Development [chap.
and warriors from the desert their life was in this
respect simple and severe ; the luxuriousness and
licentiousness of the Canaanites became a tempta
tion to them after they had gained possession of
the land. Thus we see that the situation is com
plicated ; many things that did not belong to the
original forms of Hebrew life have to be taken
into account, as they constitute the things against
which this religion had to fight, and through
which it grew to maturity and attained its final
richness and strength of character. (2) The
preacher who is to expound this literature and
make it interesting to his people must accept the
principles of development in this full and hearty
fashion ; only thus can he find a deeper signi
ficance in stories which are on the surface
extremely repulsive.
That which perplexes us in the writings of
some "conservative" theologians is the fact
that, while in words they acknowledge develop
ment in religion or progress in revelation, they
fight so strenuously for a lofty Hebrew theology
in the time of Abraham, and in some cases con
tend that in the light of recent discoveries they
are convinced that the Patriarch could quite well
have imported a noble monotheism from Baby
lonia. This monotheism is sometimes supposed
to be the remains of a "primitive religion." But
surely in the light of the scientific knowledge of
to-day we must regard this as the survival of old

IX.] Historical Development 191
tradition or scholastic speculation which has now
lost its meaning. No doubt God was ever
present with men in prehistoric times, never
leaving Himself without a witness in the great
outside world and in the deep recesses of the soul ;
still the revelations with which we have to deal
are not questions of abstract speculation but
matters of history ; such revelations concerning
God's righteousness and man's duty we can trace
in Israel with increasing clearness from the time
of Moses onward, and of the pathway of this
revelation we may say that it shines brighter and
brighter unto the perfect day.
In a certain sense it is difficult to prove this ;
if, for example, a man says that he cannot see any
great difference between the two accounts of
creation, and that he cannot see why they might
not proceed from the same man and the same
age, then you have a situation that argument
cannot very well cope with. It is a question of
sight, not merely of fancy, and here as elsewhere
what a man sees depends upon what he is pre
pared to see ; in this case the preparation involves
working out for ourselves the course of the
history from a careful study of the documents.
Again, if a man says that he cannot see why
David could not have written Ps. Ii. and
cxxxix., you are compelled to reply as politely
as possible that if he did write them any one can
write anything. It is not a mere matter as to

192 Historical Development [chap.
what David might think or write ; we know from
the historical books what he thought and how he
acted. The question is, can it be said to be a
psychological possibility that he should at the
.same time cherish the spiritual, universal thoughts
that we find in these noble poems? In a large
complicated empire and in an advanced state of
civilisation, a great variety of religious circles and
theological ideas may exist side by side, but
Israel was comparatively small, and its different
classes of people were near to each other in social
conditions and spiritual sympathies. In the
earlier days the leaders are not far removed from
the people ; it is in the later days when the
religion is reaching its fullest height that a great
gulf is created between popular and prophetic
religion. To illustrate what is meant by historical de
velopment, many monographs are necessary, and
these cannot be attempted even in outline at
the close of a chapter ; these may now be found
in several languages, and the varied lines have
been traced over with great patience and skill.
Now it is sufficient to say that these signs of
development are found in all parts of the Old
Testament, and touch all subjects from the least
unto the greatest. Take the matter of chronology ;
while that in itself may not be a small thing,
relatively or from the religious point of view it
is often counted a small thing. It seems prob-

IX.] Historical Development 193
able that the early stories now enshrined in
the different documents circulated at first in a
separate form without any historical framework.
Then in the prophetic and historical books we
find simple chronological notes, such as "two
years before the earthquake," "in the year that
King Uzziah died " ; but without further infor
mation it would be very difficult for us to fit
these events into the general history of the
world. In later times a scheme is compiled
which goes back to the beginning of the world,
and knows the name of the first man and the
length of time that he lived upon the earth.
This chronological scheme has now completely
crumbled away in the light of scientific know
ledge ; but in its day it served a real purpose,
and satisfied intellectual needs which are now
more fully provided for. If we apply to Israel
at all the idea of development, we must admit
that these intellectual needs, this demand for a
complete chronological scheme, did not arise at
the very beginning of the nation's life when
the Hebrews were fighting their way into a
new home. The conception that we are now
compelled to form of Moses and his work shows
that he must have been busy with practical
problems of a different nature, so that we cannot
think of him as spending his time in the wilder
ness piecing together bits of historical science
gathered from various quarters.
13

194 Historical Development [chap.
If we turn now to the greatest thing of all,
the idea of God, we can only hint at the rich
development that is involved in the teachings of
historians and prophets. To lay stress upon the
fact that Israel's idea of God was to the last a
national one, and at the same time to try to
exalt the idea possessed by Abraham or Moses,
may be an ingenious way of disparaging develop
ment, but it does not render full justice to the
situation. Moses may have had a comparatively
simple, noble, and powerful idea of Yahweh, the
God in whose name he preached and worked.
If, for example, we could imagine that the
theology of Ps. cxxxix. was possible to Moses
and his time, we would have to admit that the
Hebrew religion reached the loftiest heights of
universality and spirituality at the beginning of
its career ; the evidence, however, all points the
other way. At the beginning, Yahweh dwells at
Sinai, there is the centre of His presence and
power ; later, He becomes the God of Palestine,
or at least of that part of it occupied by His
people, and in course of time gains a sanctuary
at Jerusalem ; this city, through various influ
ences, national and religious, becomes the dwelling-
place of the Great King, thus attaining an ideal
position and an everlasting name. At one time
Sheol, the dark underworld, seems to be beyond
His province, but through the faith of saints and
the revelations of the Guiding Spirit a bright

IX.] Historical Development 195
hope is inspired that even there His people are
not beyond His love and care. That, however, is
one of the latest and noblest results ; it does not
seem to play a very clear, definite part in the
early religion. By the work of the great prophets
the thought of God is enlarged and purified ;
the moral principles ascribed to Yahweh show
that He is not a small tribal god, but the righteous
ruler of the great world, who demands purity of
heart and cleanness of life as the highest form
of worship and the only acceptable service. This
is not the God of a sect or party, but of the
whole world ; for it is the highest man can
conceive, and it appeals to the seeking souls
of all times and places. When a student of
prophecy gathers this up for us in a condensed
form, we have a practical creed suitable for any
nation and appropriate to any age : "He hath
showed thee, O man, what is good ; and what
doth Yahweh require of thee, but to do justly,
and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with
thy God?" (Mic. vl 8). In other writers, as
in Deuteronomy and Deutero- Isaiah, this moral
teaching, which implies a universal God, becomes
transformed into a rich theology, scornful of all
small idolatries, and claiming with conscious faith
the great world for Israel's God. Here there is
a definite creed and a certain amount of contro
versy, but it is alive with passionate feeling and
glows with poetic fervour. The God of Israel

196 Historical Development [chap.
is finally recognised as Creator and Ruler of the
whole world ; the doctrine of election receives its
full significance ; He who is the Lord of all
peoples has chosen this people to be His own
in a special sense, and through them He will act
upon the life of all other peoples. Thus the way-
is prepared for Him who was to come and
declare the truth that God is spirit, and that in
every place the true seekers may find Him and
worship Him.
The same kind of development may be shown
in relation to a great many lines of thought, e.g..
The Idea of Immortality, The Missionary Idea,
The Idea of Vicarious Suffering ; and, while in
many cases an earlier and a lower view still
linger side by side, the higher view always
becomes clearer and stronger. But before the
separate stage can be traced in any subject, the
age and character of the documents must be
settled ; and while we admit that this is often
difficult, we are compelled to attempt it because
it is of supreme importance.
To trace the development along these various
lines is to the reverent man a spiritual as well as
an intellectual exercise ; he feels that he is moving
along the path through which the great pioneers
were guided by God into fuller and clearer know
ledge of Himself. The great truths by which the
religious life is quickened and nourished become
all the more real and powerful as we see how

IX.] Historical Development 197
they were wrought into the very fibre of the
world's highest life, how they came to us not
by way of direct dogmatic statement, but through
the lives of men like ourselves who found God
in their own experience and in the great world
of which we form a part. And surely it is an
essential part of the equipment of the modern
preacher to learn to read this ancient literature in
an intelligent, sympathetic manner ; not for the
purpose of giving mere lectures in history or of
finding historical illustrations for his sermons, but
now and then to re-create for his people the life
of the distant past, and show them how in all
ages the noblest, most earnest men and women
have wrestled with the problems of the world
not merely for the sake of getting a living, but to
find life in the fullest sense, — in other words, to
find God, that they might know Him whom to
know is life eternal

CHAPTER X.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DOCU
MENTARY THEORY.
The most important contribution that Old
Testament criticism has given to the world is
no doubt "The Documentary Theory," or, in
other words, the theory that the Pentateuch is
not the product of one writer or of one generation,
but consists of four different documents, which
had their origin in different ages and circum
stances. This is now pretty generally regarded
as one of the "assured results" of scientific
research, though now and then some scholar
comes forward to remind us in solemn tones
that the use of this phrase proves that we are
uncritical dogmatists. We need not argue this
point at present, as it would simply re-open the
whole question ; and just here we may be allowed
to say that it is not possible to re-state the whole
case every time any particular subject of Old
Testament study is discussed. But one thing is
certain, even this, that it does not need any
great keenness, when reading a book on Old
198

chap, x.] Documentary Theory 199
Testament Criticism, to detect how the writer's
sympathies stand in regard to this central theme.
The scholars who accept the modern view on
this point may be ranged on one side, and those
who ignore or reject it on the other side. Thus
we are justified in saying that this solution or
supposed solution of the Pentateuchal problem
is a question of fundamental importance and
far-reaching significance. If we\ cannot without
challenge speak in this connection aibout " assured
results," we can, at all events, speak of accepted
results, and point to the fact that this analysis
is either assumed or defended in the leading
dictionaries, commentaries, and text-books which
are now available for students in this department.
We do not mention this fact to silence discussion
or to overawe dissentients. We have no desire
to see any "result" exalted into a dogma which
is received on authority : that mode of procedure
is quite alien to a really critical or scientific spirit.
We maintain that for the thoughtful student of
the Old Testament it will always be helpful and
inspiring, not only to study the reasons why this
particular theory is so widely held, but also to
trace in a sympathetic spirit the history of the
movement^ and to see how slow and painful has
been the process through which even this amount
of certainty and definite conviction has been
reached. At present, then, all that we insist
upon is the tremendous importance of this view

200 The Significance of the [chap.
of the so-called Mosaic documents ; if the
dominant school is right in this analysis, it is at
this point where it has gained its most important
victories ; and if wrong, it is here where a perverse
ingenuity has succeeded in luring towards a false
track the scholarship of several generations.
This latter a,lternative leaves us in a hopeless
mood ; if after centuries of toil the leading men
of different countries and Churches have succeeded
merely in building up a fanciful and futile hypo
thesis, we are tempted to believe that such a
thing as scientific literary criticism is impossible.
This belief would surely be out of harmony with
our faith in the presence and guidance of the
Eternal God ; a faith which, while it leads us to
regard our individual contribution with humility
and diffidence, makes us certain that there is a
divine revelation in all great progressive human
movements. However, we cannot settle this
matter from any general principles that we hold
in regard to the nature of criticism ; we may by
our own personal temperament be inclined to
think either that the traditions hallowed by great
age are safe and sacred, or that the men of to
day, with their larger opportunities, have a much
better chance of coming to correct conclusions on
matters of history and literature. But each case
must be taken on its merits ; ignorance and
bitterness on the one side or the other will not
carry us very far. " It is remarkable how inexact

X.] Documentary Theory 201
and undiscriminating is the knowledge of the
critical position displayed frequently by those
who come forward to oppose it ; and how largely
even the more prominent of its recent opponents
appear to rely upon rhetorical depreciation and
invective. It is difficult to understand what force
such weapons can be supposed to possess. No
serious issue has ever been decided by their aid ;
and the present one, it is certain, will form no
exception to the rule" ( Driver's Introduction, p. 17).
This statement by a sober investigator we may all
accept in principle, though we are apt to fall into
a different temper in the heat of controversy.
Our best course, then, in this shprt discussion is
to state briefly what is meant by the theory in
question, to show how it came to its present signifi
cance for the student of the Hebrew Scriptures.
The view now generally held is that the
contents of the first five books of the Bible
cannot possibly be the work of one man or one
generation of men ; that in them we have repre
sented different kinds of literature, various stages
of history, and diverse types of theology, prophecy,
and law. Strange as it may seem at first, it
becomes clearer the more the matter is looked
into, that the first chapter of the Bible is, in its
present form, one of the latest parts of this
wonderful collection, and that in order to gain a
scientific view of the growth and advancement
of Hebrew religious thought and life, the material

202 The Significance of the [chap.
must be arranged in a form quite different from
that" which we find in our ordinary Bible. This
process of analysis or re-arrangement does seem to
be destructive and capricious to those who have
not taken the trouble to work out the questions
with some degree of thoughtfulness and patience.
The critics are charged with turning things
upside down or setting things upon their heads,
while on their part they retort that only by this
critical re-arrangement is it possible to see any
real order of development. Certainly there is
one thing that we must admit, namely, that on the
supposition that these five books came from one
writer or one short period, there is no such thing
as historical development ; neither can we say
that there is "progressive revelation," because we
have here, in a brief compass, a great many dif
ferent stages of civilisation and forms of life.^
The difference between the first two chapters of
Genesis is very great when once we see it clearly.
Sometimes even within the space of a single
chapter we may have pieces belonging to various
ages and situations. If we wish to find parallels
to different parts of the Pentateuch, we must seek
them in books belonging to widely different
periods ; Deuteronomy has affinities with Deutero-
Isaiah and Jeremiah ; the Priestly Code with
Ezekiel "^and Chronicles. In other words, the
position as to these five books is the same as
1 See Chapter IX;

X.] Documentary Theory 203
that of other parts of the Old Testament, we have
here compressed together documents that reflect
the thought and life of several centuries.
The long, slow movement through which the
scholarship of more than a century has reached
this conclusion has in itself many lessons for
those who are prepared to treat it sympathetically,
and the result of this varied cumulative toil holds,
as we have said, a special position in the general
body of Old Testament criticism. This theory
began as a contribution to the problem of the
structure and origin of the book of Genesis, from
this it spread to other parts of the Pentateuch, and,
finally, it was applied to most of the other histori
cal books. It did not gain its present position
without a fierce, long-sustained struggle. There
have been conflicting forms of the theory, but now
we can look back and see that in each form there
was an element of truth. The man who first
suggested the clue to this analysis, by noting that
different documents used a different name for
God, was moved by an apologetic impulse ; he
wished to show that Moses in compiling the book
of Genesis used different memoirs, which can be
separated and tabulated. But it was only slowly
that scholars realised the far-reaching significance
of this suggestion. The question of authorship
had to fall into the background in order that
continuous study and supreme attention might be
given to this problem of the structure and origin

204 The Significance of the [chap.
of the books. That has been debated in this
form for more than a century ; as we read the
history of this struggle, there is much that seems
confused and contradictory, but after a while
order emerges out of the apparent chaos. Re
viewing discussions from the vantage ground of
our present knowledge, we can see that in a
great movement as well as in the thought of an
individual man there is, in attacking a problem, a
strategic point to be conquered ; there is one side
of the case that demands clear recognition as a
condition of progress. Thus we may say that it
was absolutely necessary in the first place to
acknowledge clearly and definitely that there are
different documents, different strata of historical
material, such as J, E, P, D. It could not be
allowed that the books were simply a collection of
disjointed fragments, or that there was one great
document with numerous shreds of supplements.
The general lines of what we call " the docu
mentary theory " had to be laid down broad and
strong ; that which was the main idea in it had to
be strictly maintained as against opposing theories.
Now we are in a position to do fuller justice to
the competing theories, to recognise the truth
that was in them, and to tone down the sharp out
lines of the original statement. Thus J, E, D, P
are not merely individual writers, they are schools
of literature and periods of history. At last it
seems that scientific research will succeed in

X.] Documentary Theory 205
arranging the varied pieces of literature embraced
in the Old Testament into a series of movements
extending over ' well - nigh a thousand years.
There are many fragments and also many
duplicates and supplements ; thus we can see that
the " Fragment Theory " and the " Supplement
Theory " were not vain imaginations ; they had
a basis in fact ; but the fact that had first to be
recognised and thoroughly understood was the
fact of different strata of documents connected
with the different periods of a nation's history.
In handling a complex problem, we have to learn
one thing at a time, and if confusion is to be
avoided and progress secured there is a particular
thing- that must come first at a particular time.
In the case of Old Testament criticism this
particular thing was the theory of separate docu
ments, J, E, D, and P representing varied stages
in the life of the Hebrew nation and the Jewish
Church. When we are told that the form of the
theory is changing so rapidly that its original
promoters would scarcely recognise it, we have to
say that the change is not so great as this state
ment would imply ; and if it were, it would be
only what has taken place in all other regions of
investigation ; .the first form of any theory is
seldom its full and final form. But whatever may
be the final form of this theory, it is the outcome
of all the work that has gone before ; and if the
later form is more correct according to the further

2o6 The Significance of the [chap.
knowledge of the facts, yet the earlier form was
also substantially correct in its day, and strove to
do justice to the facts then known. The impres
sion left, then, was not that of a series of discon
nected fragments or late supplements, but of a
complex unity representing various stages of life ;
that idea in some form was kept alive by the
theory of documents from the very first, but it is
possible for us now to link that idea with the
facts along a great many clearly marked outlines.
This theory may be said, then, to have been from
the beginning an attempt to express the idea of
historical development, — an attempt which could
only come to full success through slow successive
stages, because of the great variety and complexity
of the facts involved. It must at first lay hold
firmly of certain fixed points and circle round these
until they are seen to be embraced in a continuous
line of development.
The first thing was the discovery of different
documents, and the proof that each document
possessed its own individual character, linguistic,
theological, and historical. Then the date and~
order of these documents called for careful
discussion ; in other words, their relation to the
nation's life and to each other must be fixed.
When large agreement was reached on these
points, then the movement, being still alive and
by no means fixed or crystallised, began in a
sense to work back upon itself; this was not

X.] Documentary Theory 207
re-action, it was simply fuller action of the same
kind, a legitimate outcome of all previous activity.
It could be clearly seen now that within these
general and acknowledged strata there were
"fragments" and "supplements" of many kinds,
and exceedingly interesting in their character,
demanding separate investigation. It followed
that the late date of the final form of a document
did not necessarily mean that everything in it
was late ; much material early in date and
primitive in character might be incorporated in a
document which only reached its present form
at a late date. • Finally, it was seen that the
document was a compilation which admitted of
still further analysis, and implied a long period of
literary activity. If it is said that these admis
sions destroy the documentary theory, we have
again to reply. No, they merely modify it by way
of expansion and development ; or, in other words,
the form that now prevails could only have come
to the front after or through the earlier form.
This means that the century of toil that was
needed to complete this theory has not been a
waste of energy ; the product has not been a mass
•of wild and contradictory conjectures, but rather a
reasonable movement having a large logic and
consistent meaning of its own. If it is now
possible to arrange with some measure of correct
ness the various parts of the Old Testament in
chronological order, so that we can see reflected

2o8 The Significance of the [chap.
in it the growth of a wonderful religious life and
the progress of a divine revelation, this is largely
due to the careful, reverent toil which scholars
have spent on this theory of documents. By
their labour the Old Testament has become a
different book ; " old things have passed away,
and all things are become new." The facts of
language, theology, and history upon which this
theory rests are such as can be made evident to
all who care to examine them ; in other words,
what we have before us is not merely a statement
that the life of Israel must, in its many aspects,
have been a development because evolution is
in all spheres the universal law of life, but a
demonstration that the life of this wonderful
people did follow a given pathway, and along
that pathway was guided to clearer, fuller know
ledge of God and to loftier heights of spiritual
experience. We now write the history of the
nation and its religion on the basis of the docu
ments that have been carefully studied and
arranged. When we are engaged in this process,
and especially as it approaches completion, we see
that it throws new light on the nature of revelation.
It is easy for us to say, as it is often done, that
we have come to see that the Bible has its human
side ; but the detailed process of criticism throws a
flood of light on this general statement, and shows
that it is not a mere apology for supposed errors
and weaknesses, it is full of real meaning. When

X.] Documentary Theory 209
attention was first attracted to differences in the
style and structure of these documents, the natural
result was to lay emphasis on this so-called
"human element" in the Scriptures. In the
abstract it might be admitted that God could
inspire one great man, Moses, in such a way that
he would have not only many forms of knowledge
but also many styles of speech ; but even the most
strictly orthodox felt that there was something
mechanical in this view, and that it was more
natural to suppose that this great man had used
materials coming from a variety of sources. Men
who were prepared to allow even the smallest
amount of criticism were driven thus far, and
some dignified defenders of the faith have tried
to maintain this stand ever since. The argument
from "naturalness," or from the relation of
literature to the life from which it springs, when
once it is admitted, is revolutionary. We must
either take our stand firmly upon the whole mass
of Rabbinic tradition, or we must travel a long
way with the critics. If we are to avoid " scepti
cism," we must avoid it in a thoroughgoing,
whole-hearted fashion ; it will not do to be
for ever denouncing " scepticism," and then take
the small doses that we think will suit our mental
constitution. The treatment that many apologists
mete out to the critics is so arbitrary and dog
matic that it may well be pronounced irrelevant
and impertinent. 14

2IO The Significance of the [chap.
The style of thought and language is the rela
tion of a particular piece of literature to a
particular writer and age. It is a human relation
ship that we can understand and investigate.
But when we once admit that such investigation
is applicable to the Scriptures, we cannot limit it
to suit our personal convenience or our Church
dogmas ; it must move on, not according to the
eccentric, extravagant fancy of any individual
critic, but according to its own laws, — laws of
reason which prevail here as elsewhere. For
example, it is a great mercy that we have been
compelled to admit, not by abstract theorising
but by a survey of the facts, that the Bible is not
a book of divine dogmas dropped from the sky
or dictated in a mechanically miraculous fashion ;
it has a human element, it stands in human rela
tionships ; in other words, it is literature growing
out of human life. This admission then applies to
date as well as authorship ; it is just as unlikely
that a number of different bodies of laws arose in
the same period in the life of a small, simple
people, as it is that a number of widely different
styles and views belong to the same man. The
apologist who wishes to save the Mosaic author
ship of these diverse documents says they could "
arise in the Mosaic age or earlier, because we now
know that writing belongs to very ancient culture,
and that similar laws existed in Babylon at a very
early date. But the critic replies that, however

X.] Documentary Theory 211
much these institutions may resemble the laws
and customs of other Semitic nations, in the form
that we possess them they are an outgrowth of
the life of Israel ; and the criticism, which enables
us to connect each set of laws and each stage of
religious culture with the particular period with
which it is in living connection, does a great work,
saving for us, at the same time, the independent
life of Israel and the divine revelation that is
manifested through that life. The view of re
velation that is forced upon us by a consideration
of the documentary theory does not allow us to
believe that any doctrine can be revealed at any
time or place ; there is an order, a progress, a
movement from the natural to the spiritual until
"the fulness of time" is revealed. In such a
movement each stage is related in a natural,
living way to the life of the people in the given
period, and each stage is linked by living pro
cesses to every other stage. The attempt to
place each sermon or song, each piece of history
or each body of laws, into relation with the
original life out of which it sprang and to which
it appealed, is, of course, a study of human
elements, of circumstances of time and place, of
conditions which accompany, limit, and modify all
human action; but surely it is absurd to call this a
sceptical process when it is possible for it to be
carried on with the clear, firm conviction that in
every part of it the living God is revealing Himself.

2 1 2 The Significance of the [chap.
Now of all these attempts the documentary
theory is the most complex and most comprehen
sive ; it has to deal with such a mass of material
and such a variety of subjects, that its investi
gations reach out into every sphere of Old
Testament history and theology. Its beginnings
were tentative and uncertain, its progress has been
slow and laborious, but to-day it stands as a
monument of patient skill and reverent research,
one of the noblest tributes to the unfailing
attraction and unceasing power of this great
literature. It is from this view of the Pentateuch
that we draw the fullest demonstration of the
truth that "revelation" is not an abstract thing,
bringing to us facts and dogmas from heaven out
of relation to human experience ; these literary
investigations enable us, so to speak, to trace the
course of the revelation ; they show us how the
manifestation of God comes to us through the life
of man ; at each stage we see the divine guidance
adapting itself to the weakness and need of truth-
seeking men.
The significance, then, of this documentary
theory for the Old Testament and for Theology
in general may be briefly summed up :
I. It is a theory which began in a small tenta
tive fashion and in an apologetic spirit more than
a century ago ; it has stood the test of time,
passed through fierce discussions, modified its
form, and finally taken its place as a rich contribu-

X.] Documentary Theory 213
tion of patient inductive science, which gives us
the key to the study of all the historical books.
2. The first effect of the working of such a
theory was naturally negative ; the distance
which separates between the occurrence of the
events and the writing of the narratives was seen,
in many cases, to be very great, and that which
had been treated as literal history came to be
regarded as poetic legend. But the patient
sifting and comparing of the material gradually
show that the negative phase was only temporary,
and that when each part of the literature was
placed in its own period it was possible to con
struct an outline of the history of this people,
their institutions and thoughts, from the beginning.
The result of this we have now in various text
books on Old Testament History and Theology.
All this is now being made available for ministers
and students by a great variety of books written
in our mother tongue by men whose scholarship
is unquestioned, and who unite a bold spirit of
inquiry with a "deep reverent faith. This great
mass of material is accumulating, and it will
finally have a powerful influence on the study of
the New Testament and on the reconstruction
of Christian Theology.
3. More and more men have learned how slow
was the growth of this rich material ; we see now
that the material did not necessarily emerge at
the time when it was written down. There was

214 The Significance of the [chap.
literature before letters, there was living tradition
of poetry and story before it was fused into its
final form. So, when we get the strata marked
out we find fossils, so to speak, within these strata
preserving fragments from a still more ancient
time, and the strata themselves are seen to be a
gradual growth and not a sudden creation.
4. Thus the idea or truth which is most
abundantly illustrated by this theory is that of
historical development or progressive revelation :
we may use either of these two terms, for from
our point of view they are just the two sides of
the same thing. (See Chapter IX.) In all ages
thinking men have had in some form the idea of
" evolution " in the realm of life and knowledge ;
we see it recognised in the Old Testament, and
we find suggestions of it in the teaching of our
Lord Jesus and of Paul This truth was
preached in a fuller form at the beginning of
the nineteenth century, and men saw clearly
that it must apply to the growth of the
Old Testament. The great law of progress
present everywhere must be active here, but it
has been the glory of this documentary theory
that it has filled the abstract, philosophic state
ment with rich, concrete content. It has traced
the particular steps and shown us how the
movement took shape and grew. Now we know
that there are simple, childlike things that come
first, and things more thoughtful, subtle, and

x.] Documentary Theory 215
complex that can come only later. We see the
stages by which men have been led to rich
conquests of truth and love, and we sympathise
with men who have toiled for our good, and we
adore the patience and wisdom of Him who is
the God of our fathers.
5. This theory, then, is something that con
fronts the earnest student of the Old Testament ;
only by studying its history and mastering it can
we come to a clear understanding of the modern
position. It is not sufficient to point out in
hypercritical fashion that there are many difficulties
connected with it ; the task is to understand it,
refute it, and then set something more satisfying
in its place. There has been abundant oppor
tunity for opponents to do this, but we do not
know of any one who has succeeded in the
gigantic task. There is plenty of superficial
scoffing and many foolish charges of " scepticism,"
but the main lines of this theory stand still in
bold relief, and any student or minister who
desires to be an intelligent expositor of Old
Testament narratives and prophecies must be
prepared to grapple with it and get the heart
out of it, in order to have the real background
for his personal study and practical work.

CHAPTER XL
CRITICISM AND THEOLOGY.^
"It is no use attempting to minimise the differ
ence between the traditional view and the critical
treatment of the Old Testament. The difference
is immense : they involve different conceptions of
the relation of God to the world, different views
as to the course of Israel's history, the process of
revelation, and the nature of inspiration." ^
These words were written by me a few
years ago, and they are quoted by Professor
McFadyen in his discussion concerning "the
gulf" which is supposed to separate the two
points of view and the two parties in this great
controversy {Old Testament Criticism and the
Christian Church, p. 315). I accept the full re
sponsibility for these words, and shall now try to
explain their meaning more fully ; but I certainly
cannot follow Professor Volck, quoted on the same
page, who, speaking of the two points of view,
1 A lecture delivered before the Philosophical Society of
Queen's University, Jan. 14th, 1907.
2 American foumal of Theology, Jan. 1902, p. 114.
216

chap. XI.] Criticistn and Theology 217
says, "the gulf which separates them cannot be
bridged " ; and, while fully sympathising with the
spirit of Professor McFadyen's chapter, we must
remember that the brief sentence, "both sides
admit that the gulf is impassable " (p. xix), merely
describes the position of extremists on both sides.
However, one must not lay too much weight on
the word "gulf"; in this case it must be taken
with the freedom that belongs to a metaphor rather
than with the precision of a mathematical term.
As a matter of fact, men do pass from one posi
tion to the other, either by the stress of sudden
conviction or by slow progress from point to point.
In speaking of this great difference, what was
meant was, of course, a difference in intellectual
point of view. There was no intention to repre
sent the man who clings to traditional views as
being a foreign creature with whom the critic can
have small sympathy and slight communion. We
rejoice in the fact that two men holding different
views as to the structure of the Old Testament
can each draw from a particular passage of Scrip
ture a spiritual lesson, and in some cases a similar
lesson ; that two men holding different views on
matters of Biblical science may have kindly
fellowship with each other as devout Christians
and faithful citizens ; but this unity of life does
not lessen the difference in their philosophy of
history and revelation.
Philosophy and criticism are not for direct

2i8 Criticism and Theology [chap.
pulpit use ; a man may be a powerful preacher
who is not specially equipped in these depart
ments ; but if the preacher is to be an effective
expositor of ancient literature, he will need to
examine his texts with something of philosophic
insight and careful criticism. The philosopher,
who is concerned with the history of human
thought and the movement of human life, and
the critic, who patiently studies the literature in
which great world-movements find their ex
pression, these two workers are closely allied ;
they often deal with the same things from
slightly different points of view, and they help
the preacher to understand and appropriate the
results of all kinds of scientific research. How
ever, it is not possible now to illustrate fully the
fact that the modern movement in Old Testament
criticism has received fruitful stimulus from the
side both of philosophy and physical science. We
are called to consider a special aspect of this
question. (Criticism is an attempt to place a particular
document in its original setting, in relation to
the period out of which it arose, or from which
it received its individual stamp, and thus to
interpret it as a revelation of human life, and
afterwards to show the position of this revelation
in the history of a particular people and of the
human race^, In these days, when division of
labour and high specialisation are absolutely

XI.] Criticism and Theology 219
necessary, we are indebted to the many workers
in this department of literary and historical
criticism for invaluable assistance in the study
of the Old Testament. Literary criticism thus
viewed is a positive science, and it follows the
methods of other particular sciences in its en
deavour to collect, arrange, and interpret its own
facts. In some cases its results are supported by
so many lines of evidence pointing in the same
direction, that the conclusion amounts to moral
certainty ; in other cases the evidence is scanty
and the conclusion, considered in itself, uncertain.
But a detail which if it stood alone would continue
to be obscure, may receive light from the general
scheme of which it forms an essential though
subordinate part. This sounds quite reasonable,
and would be regarded as commonplace if we
were dealing with some science that had no
direct connection with theology. But here it is
different. Many theologians and apologists, instead
of seeking to discover what reconstruction of
theological formulas is necessary, are spending
their time and energy in fighting a hopeless
battle. In such cases the influence of theological
theory is allowed to have a greater weight than
the critical examination of facts.
This charge, as we shall see, can be made on
both sides. Dr. Orr expresses his conviction that
those who accept the modern view of the Old
Testament do so not from a scientific examina-

220 Criticism and Theology [chap.
tion and explanation of the facts, but because
of a bias given by their general "religious and
historical standpoint.", Strange to say. Dr. Orr
adopts the course which he condemns in others ;
he tells us deliberately that we must first decide how
we are to conceive of the religion which the Old
Testament embodies before we attack the ques
tion, " How are we to conceive of the literature ? "
(Orr, Problem of the O. T. p. 4). In answer to
Dr. Orr's charge, many of us are able to declare
that we have tried to form our "religious and
historical standpoint" through an examination of
the facts ; but if we have erred, the rebuke comes
strangely from one who thinks that the question
how the religion manifested its character can be
settled before a critical examination of the
documents is made. It seems that a mode of
procedure which is legitimate and satisfactory
when used by a defender of " orthodoxy " is
very crooked and unfair in the hands of people
of a different shade of theological opinion.
If the student had on the one side Dr. Orr,
applying a correct theological theory in the
interests of orthodoxy, and on the other Dr.
Wellhausen, with capricious criticism working
out a sceptical theory, the choice would be simple
between such clear alternatives. But it is not so
simple as that ; in real life and with great issues
it never is so simple. Note this statement :
"There are, one must own, few outstanding

XI.] Criticism and Theology 221
scholars at the present day on the Continent or
in Britain — in America it is somewhat different
— who do not in greater or less degree accept
conclusions regarding the Old Testament of the
kind ordinarily denominated critical ; yet among
the foremost are many whom no one who under
stands their work would dream of classing as
other than believing, and defenders of revealed
religion" (ibid. p. 7). This does not look as if
the acceptance of the broad results of criticism
was either a result or a cause of scepticism, but
we are asked to believe that Christian scholars
save their faith at the expense of their logic.
The fact that the critical theory was not ex
clusively the work of professional theologians
or Churchmen renders it suspicious in the eyes
of the apologist ; but some of us are compelled
to confess that when the history of such great
movements is written, the candid record is not
altogether to the credit of "the Church." The
theologians have too often driven criticism into
the outer darkness and then complained that it
kept bad company. Surely we should be thank
ful that, in God's providence, strong men outside
of narrow sectarian circles have contributed
stimulus and instruction which have saved the
Church from stagnation. Here, however, we
have a somewhat different tone: "The critical
hypothesis must, of course, be considered on
its merits ; but is there not, on the face of it.

222 Criticism and Theology [chap.
a supreme improbability that a theory evolved
uAder the conditions we have described should
be, in that form, a theory adequate to Christian
faith, or with which Christian faith can ultimately
be content ? Is it such a theory as Christian faith
would ever have evolved from its own presupposi
tions ? Can it ever be purged of its rationalistic
leaven, and adapted to the use of the Christian
Churches, without a complete re-casting on
principles which are direct antitheses of those
which obtain in the schools in which it origin
ated? We take leave to doubt it" {ibid. p. 17).
One would be inclined to think that the suspicion
and prejudice here displayed do not promise well
for a consideration of the merits of the case. But
on this point, as on many others, we can immedi
ately find a statement which qualifies, if it does
not cancel, what has gone before : " It is not too
much to say that one direct result of the application
of the strictest historical and critical methods to
the Old Testament has been to bring out, as
never before, the absolutely unique and marvellous
character of the religion of Israel. QKith the best
will in the world to explain the religious develop
ment of Israel out of natural factors, the efforts
of the critics have resulted, in the view of many
of themselves, in a magnificent demonstration of
the immense, and, on natural principles, inexplic
able difference between the religion of this obscure
people and every ot\\e.t") {ibid. p. 10). In this

XI.] Criticism and Theology 2.2.2,
connection our author pays a somewhat grudging
and patronising tribute to the men "of fine
literary gifts, wide culture, acute critical faculty,
and genuine appreciation of the nobler elements
in the religious and ethical teaching of the
prophets," including on the linguistic side "that
dry old rationalist Gesenius " (ibid. p. 10).
Sufficient has been quoted to bring up the
subject for discussion, so we may now address
ourselves to the specific point at issue.
What we are face to face with is the difficulty
of keeping separate the critical and the philo
sophical question ; one must admit that they
are closely related, and that they exercise a
mutual influence on each other. Therefore the
theological student, along with other helpful
disciplines, needs training both on the philosophic
and the critical side, that he may have a clear
grasp of principles and be able to deal with
concrete cases. But, after all, the number of
philosophers is limited, and the great mass of
people who have changed their point of view in
respect to Hebrew literature have been driven
to do so by the pressure of facts which could be
recognised by those who were not gifted with a
keen speculative faculty. So far as the Church
is concerned, the greatest miracle, namely, that
of a mechanical, verbal inspiration, was surren
dered, not on account of speculative arguments,
but through a keen and reverent re-examination

224 Criticism and Theology [chap.
of the facts. It is true that modern philosophy,
and the part that " the reign of law " has played
in physical science have had their influence in
creating the modern atmosphere, but it was the
facts in the Bible itself that caused the change
of front ; these facts, seen, of course, in a new
light. Men of this type did not think so much
about the new light, they felt somehow that they
had not looked properly at the facts before.
Dr. Bacon, speaking of the narrative recorded
in Judg. XV., asks the pertinent question, "Will
it be resented if, after the Revisers, by simply
regarding Lehi as a proper name in ver. 19, have
eliminated one of the most incredible prodigies of
the Old Testament, the higher criticism proceeds
to remove the equally stupendous one which im
mediately precedes it, by doing the same thing
in ver. 16, namely, translating Lehi as a proper
name" {The Genesis of Genesis, p. 14).
Now, no sane person would suggest that the
Revisers had any bias against the supernatural.
And the question whether or not this particular
part of Samson's story is a fragment of an old
battle-song, which has been misinterpreted, is a
question that literary criticism should be allowed
to settle on its own merits. In another case,
Josh. X. 12, 13, the Revised Version, by print
ing four lines in the form of verse, has suggested
to the intelligent reader that a very natural piece
of poetry has been turned into prose, producing a

XI.] Criticism and Theology 225
miracle that is quite incredible. The Revisers of
the Old Testament were not at all radical in their
treatment of the text, and we could certainly not
accuse them of being perverted by a rationalistic
bias. We might mention many scholars by name
or speak in our own person, and say. No ; the pro-
¦ cedure was the other way. We did not attack the
book for the purpose of getting rid of miracles,
we set out to gain a truer knowledge of the
literature, with all the light available ; and many
of the so-called miracles disappeared. For
example, we were at one time quite prepared
to believe that Isaiah wrote the great prophecy
of comfort and hope addressed to the people
in the Exile ; we held to the traditional view
until a closer knowledge of the text showed that
this great sermon, according to its own testi
mony, came from a different prophet in a later
age (Isa. xl-lv.). If a personal word may be
allowed, I may say that then this great message
became available for expository preaching, while
the previous treatment was of the non-expository
kind, in which the text is used as a motto or
starting-point for a discourse on some important
spiritual truth. A very good illustration of such
a change is the Book of Daniel ; until this genera
tion the great body of English-speaking scholars
clung to a belief in the exilic date and the literal
y historical character of the book, and this involved
the acceptance of tremendous miracles ; this was
15

226 Criticism and Theology [chap.
not changed by direct argument against miracles,
although such miracles were becoming more and
more a burden to the faith of intelligent men, but
by new light in the region of language aild history
which has revealed the real place and purpose of
the book. Thus instead of literal miracles in the
life of a few special individuals, we have God's
miracle of mercy and deliverance to the nation in
a great crisis, — a crisis fraught with great signifi
cance for the religion of Israel and for the life of
the world. Thus we can with a good conscience
reply to the charge of "anti-supernaturalism," that
the real state of the case is, that by a serious study
of the facts, in the world and in the word of God,
we have been led to revise our conception of the
supernatural, and have come to something that we
believe to be truer and more wonderful. Perhaps
we ought to have been more philosophic in the
earlier stages, but now we are thankful that we
travelled this slow painful way ; because when we
are charged with adopting sceptical criticism on
general principles, we can reply, " Let the galled
jade wince, our withers are unwrung."
The critical and philosophical questions though
closely related can in a measure be kept distinct.
Let us take an illustration from the realm of
biology. Without attempting to define exactly
what is meant by the term, we may say that a
man may be an evolutionist and a theist ;
such a man may claim that he has drawn his

XI.] Criticism and Theology 227
general theory from a wide survey of facts, and
further, that his conception of God's action in
the sphere of nature has been modified without
being destroyed. Names will occur to you at
once which show that men may hold the same
biological theory while differing on philosophical
questions, and that some men may live almost
altogether in the realm of physical science,
troubling very little about the philosophical
implications. In these cases there may be a
certain amount of incompleteness or inconsist
ency, but that the matter stands thus we know
both from experience and observation.
A recent writer with a fairly strong conserva
tive bias says, " Wellhausen has correctly
emphasised the historical character of the Old
Testament over against its purely dogmatic
interpretation of former times ; but this does
not prove that his naturalistic conception of the
Old Testament religion and its development
is correct" (Professor G. H. Schodde, Ph.D.,
Homiletic Review, October 1906). There are
those who are prepared to defend even Well
hausen against this charge of "naturalism";
that, however, is a personal question with which
we are not immediately concerned. What we
do maintain is that one may hold, in the main,
the views of Wellhausen as to the development
of political and religious life in Israel, and yet
have a strong, clear faith that the guidance of

228 Criticism and Theology [chap.
God is wonderfully manifested in and through
that history. It is the work of the Christian
philosopher or theologian to prove this ; the
Old Testament critic may see it quite clearly,
but his special task is the interpretation of the
literature. Then again, in every scheme there are details
which are doubtful, and it is natural that these
should be drawn under the influence of the
general theory. There is no harm in that if
one takes care that the theory as a whole is
based on a careful survey of the facts, and if
one does not exert too much pressure on parti
cular facts for the sake of consistency. For
example, the small book bearing the name of
Joel was at one time regarded either as very
early or very late, as the references to external
circumstances seemed to fit into either case ;
now there is an increasing body of opinion in
favour of the late date, because, halving obtained
clearer ideas as to the development of the
language and theology, the scale is turned in
this direction. For some of us the precise shade
of signification attached to the phrase "the
day of Yahweh " is sufficient to settle this
point. Dr. Orr lays great weight upon his own
general theory to save himself from conclusions
to which other people profess to be driven by
facts. An illustration of this is his explanation

XI.] Criticism and Theology 229
of Gen. vi. 1-5, which in his view is "sacred
tradition of real events and transactions in the
lives of real men and women " ; on this view
the words " sons of God " must be interpreted
to mean " good men " or descendants of Seth.
The opinion now widely held on this passage
is: (i) It is a fragment not originally connected
with the Flood story to which it has been joined
by a later editor. (2) That, while in the Old
Testament there is no pure myth, but only
poetic allusion to myths, and traces of mytho
logical features in stories that have been worked
over, here we have an antique fragment with
a very strong mythological flavour. (3) Accord
ing to Hebrew usage, "sons of God" must mean
superhuman beings or angels. Facts drawn
from many quarters support this interpretation,
which is now generally accepted, but it evidently
does not agree with a particular idea as to
.what an inspired literature ought to contain.
Surely the wisest course is to re-adjust our
views of the "inspired" and the "supernatural"
to meet the needs created by the larger range
of knowledge and the clearer light which God
has vouchsafed to men through the toil of
centuries. Thus we are brought to the philosophical task ;
it is needful that our men of "light and leading"
should show to the world that Christian teachers
are not afraid of new light, that they rather

230 Criticism and Theology [chap.
rejoice in it, and after the age of criticism a new
era of construction can begin, uniting simplest
piety with fuller knowledge, and keenest thought
with deepest reverence. There is very much
loose talk about "naturalism" and the "super
natural," so that we, on the theological side,
are in danger of forgetting that the more a
thing is natural, that is, the more life it has,
the more it is permeated by the supernatural ;
just as the life of the Lord Jesus is more divine
because it is so perfectly human. We need
Professor McFadyen's warning against seeing
the divine only in the " so-called supernatural."
Because things that were once regarded as
"supernatural," in the coarsest sense of that
term, must now receive a new interpretation
on account of a more careful examination of
the documents, we must not suppose that there
fore the element of divine guidance disappears
from the history ; it rather assumes a nobler
form. To me, with my faith that the whole
universe is filled with the presence of the living,
self-revealing God, I cannot conceive, notwith
standing the eclipse of faith in individual cases,
that the most severe criticism can ever banish
the divine power from that great literature
which is one of the choicest organs of its mani
festation. If some scholars prefer to speak of
"providential guidance," "historical evolution,"
and "psychological development," it does not

XI.] Criticism and Theology 231
seem wise to quarrel about terms when the
presence and purpose of God are frankly recog
nised. We cannot any of us claim to have
formulated the full and final expression of
God's relation to the world and to the life of
man. There are some who challenge our right to use
the specifically theological terms such as " reve
lation " and " inspiration," on the ground that we
have forsaken the faith that lies behind these
great words. To this we reply that these words
are not the special property of one generation or
sect, they belong to the whole Church, taking'
that designation in its largest sense, and they have
always been used with great variety of meanings.
These great words must necessarily have a certain
amount of elasticity, because they do not describe
small, definite events, but spiritual powers and
processes which may be conceived in a great
many different ways. It does not follow that
when the mechanical view of verbal inspiration
was seen to be untenable, believing men were no
longer entitled to speak of " revelation " and
" inspiration." We are not prepared to give up
words which are hallowed by sacred associations
because we are convinced that the critical move
ment is destined to give to them a richer content,
and that this movement itself, apart from the
imperfections of individual workers, is due to the
guidance of the revealing spirit. We do not

232 Criticism and Theology [chap.
scruple to use sacred texts in a way that gives to
them a fuller meaning than that which was present
in the mind of the original writer, especially when
we feel that the richer suggestions really grow
out of the earlier meanings. It is a poor kind of
orthodoxy that tries to fix a great word expressive
of growing religious truth down to a narrow,
stereotyped, dogmatic sense. Our forefathers
rejoiced in the word "election"; it spoke to them
of God's sovereignty, His supreme power and
gracious purpose ; they brooded over this word
and the mysteries that it involved until they felt
themselves to be as nothing in His sight, but yet
out of this nothingness they arose with new
strength to fight great battles ; by a tremendous
creed, which theorists tell us ought to have para
lysed them, they were made to feel the dignity of
human life and the possibility of achieving the
noblest tasks. In recent years men have spoken
more about " evolution " than election ; they have
been concerned with the processes rather than
with the power that lies behind. Do you tell me
that if I believe that there is very much truth in
this talk of evolution, and that in so far as men of
science can trace the lines of it they bring a mes
sage of God to our age, that, therefore, I must not
speak of election ? Surely election has more
meaning than before ; purpose is not less real
because it takes a wider range. The thinkers
among the Hebrew people grasped in a simpler

XI.] Criticisfn and Theology 233
form the truth represented by both these words.
Their consciousness of election for communion
with God and service to men has been vindicated
by God and in the long course of the world's
history ; and their knowledge that God is revealed
in different names and by various stages has been
abundantly illustrated. The election is through
the evolution. Criticism cannot answer the
ultimate question why it is that God chose to
make such an important contribution to the life of
the world through this small, insignificant people,
but it can show us that such was the case, and can
help us to trace the growth of that life, pointing
out how it was enriched and strengthened by the
things that seemed likely to destroy it. To us
the election and evolution find their completion in
Jesus Christ and the movement that He created,
which is again the source and centre of new
developments in the world's highest life.
We venture, then, to speak of revelation through
the literature which embodies this evolution.
The literature is now larger ; instead of circling
round a few great names, it represents the con
tinuous life of a thousand years. Many nameless
souls have poured into it their best thoughts
and noblest songs ; it is God's gift, and through
the toils and tears of men it was fitted to be the
medium of His highest revelation. That familiar
text, " God, having of old time spoken unto the
fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in

234 Criticism and Theology [chap.
divers manners, hath at the end of these days
spoken to us in His Son" — has, through our
critical studies, gained a richer meaning. We re
joice that our Bible is a book of this kind, not a
collection of dogmas bearing the marks of one
school and age alone, but a living literature which
can pass beyond its local Hmitations and reach out
for a large universal life. Is it possible anywhere
to cut a sharp, clear line between the human and
divine ? Certainly not here ; it is in the histories
and poems that are most saturated with human
feeling that we find God revealing to us most
fully His justice and love. The " Paradise story "
is no longer a literal history of " our first parents,"
mechanically dictated, or even handed down by
tradition ; what it is cannot be expressed in one
word, but the idea that we have now of its varied
elements and complex growth has not made it
smaller or less valuable. With all its sorrowful
pathos and child-like simplicity, it is a thing of
beauty and a joy for ever. It comes from deep
experience, and is full of rich suggestions concern
ing that battle of life which we must all fight.
Even if there is no Gospel in it, it shows man's
need of a Gospel, and his hunger after God. To
us the more_comp1ete1y it becomes a human
"document" the more trulv isj't q divin-? rpi^^lp-
tion. We refuse to limit the word revelation to
any specific dogmatic dictation ; and we refuse to
agree to a divorce between the sacred and the

XI.] Criticism and Theology 235
secular, the rational and spiritual. Even here we
would utter the prayer :
" Let knowledge grow from more to more,
But more of reverence in us dwell ;
That mind and soul, according well,
May make one music as before.
But vaster."

CHAPTER XIL
CRITICISM AND THE PREACHER.
We venture to affirm that criticism is not an
"academic" thing, in any narrow sense of the
word ; it is not necessarily pedantry ; if rightly
studied it does not separate a man from real life,
but carries him into the very heart of it. A few
words on the relation of the Christian minister to
this discipline may be taken from another place.
" The only way in which the modern preacher
can hope to fulfil this description is by having a
real fellowship with the great souls of the past, as
well as a living faith in God and a sympathetic
comprehension of present needs. It may, of
course, be urged that this is difficult ; that the
times of these men are so distant and their lives so
remote from ours ; that the words they have left
are so scattered and broken, and hence not
without painful toil can we even in an imperfect
fashion reconstruct their history and get at their
point of view. That is true ; but is there any
good work that is not difficult? If the man of
science displays his- devotion to truth in earnest
236

CHAP. XII.] Criticism and the Preacher 237
efforts to reconstruct earlier forms of life, if in
other spheres the student of literature and art
is content painfully to spell out the meaning of
an ancient author, or seeks sympathetically to
interpret the symbolism of a great painter, surely
the preacher may be expected to give some
loving care to those whom he claims as his
spiritual ancestors. He has many helps at the
present day, but the ' helps ' of the right kind are
precisely those which demand most severe and
conscientious work from himself. As a matter
of fact, if the divorce between religion and
knowledge is not to become real and deep, the
minister must be content to accept the fate of the
effective workers in any noble profession — that is,
he must work carefully through processes which
cannot be seen by the mass of people to whom his
results are presented. Study must be the joy of
his silent hours, in order that his speech may do
justice to his deepest life and be helpful to his
fellow-men. This is what we expect from the
doctor or the artist, and why should the minister
be free from the hard universal law? The
efficient physician must keep himself familiar with
many sciences, but those who do their work most
thoroughly bring the least suggestion of all this
severe discipline when they come with a sympa
thetic smile into~ the sick-room. The artist must
study anatomy, but we do not wish him to
decorate our walls with grim skeletons ; as a rule.

238 Criticism and the Preacher [chap.
his figures are pictures of buoyant health, clothed
in the most graceful drapery. Neither is the
preacher expected to give lectures on history,
or discuss ' theories of criticism ' or methods of
exegesis, but rather to do all that preliminary
work so thoroughly that his exposition shall bring
the noblest spirit of that past to meet the
questioning of the present.
" This process cannot be made easy ; but, so far
as we can see, it is the only way in which we can
show real reverence to men who in their own day
were not given to choosing short methods and
easy paths. Building monuments to the prophets
and forsaking their spirit is a manner of worship
which ought by this time to have fallen into
discredit among intelligent men. To praise the
Scriptures as possessing the supreme revelation,
involves the duty of endeavouring to appropriate
the message in its varied forms. In this we have
the example of the most faithful and effective
teachers in all ages. This effort to get back to
the actual life of men to whom we owe so much
can only be partially successful ; but the effort
itself is both a religious exercise and a means of
culture. It is not a mere literary study ; such
study is only a means to an important end.
Further, it is far from being an unpractical thing,
unless for us practical means shallow. What is
more living, and in the best sense practical, than
this very effort to break through the barriers of

XII.] Criticism and the Preacher 239
our local limitations and personal prejudices, that
we may hold sweet communion with a noble soul
of another time or race or creed ? The minister
whose business is to understand and sympathise
with all classes and conditions of men may thus
find on the intellectual side of his life a real pre
paration for those duties which lay the largest
strain upon his heart " {Prophetic Ideas and
Ideals, pp. 8-10).
This statement is common-place enough, but it
is necessary to make it and repeat it, because those
who ought to know better sometimes think that
we propose to substitute for living sermons dry
disquisitions on history or vain quibbling about
mere words. The history in which we are
interested is the great movement of human life in
which we can read the increasing purpose of a
wise and living God. The words that move our
souls are not mere signs or labels, but the forms
of expression into which the great souls of the
past have breathed their very life. The reverent
student of history has a twofold purpose, to
discover the life of the past and to minister to
the life of to-day. Discussions about dates, com
parisons of words and forms, may sometimes seem
formal and abstract, but they have their place, and
as a means to a great end they are of very great
importance. Things that seemed dead and cold,
when approached in a sympathetic spirit and with
true insight, may glow with the glory of a new

240 Criticism and the Preacher [chap.
life. This is, of course, true of all literary study,
and it has been well put in the following para
graph by one who is a master in English
literature. " It is necessary also, especially to a true concep
tion ofthe whole, to compare, to analyse, to dissect ;
and such readers often shrink from this task,
which seems to them prosaic or even a desecration.
They misunderstand, I believe. They would not
shrink if they remembered two things. In the
first place, in this process of comparison and
analysis it is not requisite, it is on the contrary
ruinous, to set imagination aside and to substitute
some supposed 'cold reason,' and it is only want
of practice that makes the concurrent use of
analysis and of poetic perception difficult or
' irksome ' ; and, in the second place, these dissect
ing processes, though they are also imaginative,
are still, and are meant to be, nothing but means
to an end. When they have finished their work
(it can only be finished for the time) they give
place to the end, which is that same imaginative
reading or re-creation of the drama from which
they set out, but a reading now enriched by
the products of analysis and therefore far more
adequate and enjoyable" (Dr. A. C. Bradley's
Shakespearian Tragedy, p. 2).
It is perfectly true that in such work there
is hard labour which at times almost becomes
drudgery; there are moments when the atmosphere

XII.] Criticism and the Preacher 241
of the anatomy-room is sickening, when we have
in our hand a heap of dead fragments, and the life
seems to have fled from us so thoroughly that we
are tempted to believe that there never was any
life. But only those who have gone through such
moments know the glory of real life. When the
man of science comes back to the living whole, the
world means more to him than to the superficial
observer. Those who are interpreters of nature
in any of its aspects, the poet or the artist, find
that their genius calls them to and qualifies them
for the patient toil that is needed in studying the
works of God and man. If the statement con
tained in the following paragraph is true, there
is as much need for such labours in dealing with
the Bible as elsewhere.
"'The Bible was never more studied or less
read than at the present day.' This paradox is
true at least of the Old Testament. For two
generations scores of patient scholars have toiled
at the text, scanning each letter with microscopic
care, and one result of their labours has been that,
to the majority of educated men and women, of
whatever belief or no belief, the 'open Bible' has
become a closed, nay, a sealed book. It is not
what it used to be ; what it has become they do
not know, and in scorn or sorrow or apathy they
have laid it aside " (Todd, Politics and Religion,
etc., p. 7).
What is the cure for this ? A little more study
16

242 Criticism and the Preacher [chap.
on the part of ministers and educated men, so as
to get back to that distant past to which we owe
so much, and to realise that men and women like
ourselves were fighting great battles for those
who were to come after them as well as for
themselves. This is not the only form of labour for the
Christian minister ; he must preach on all kinds
of topics, bringing the highest spiritual teaching
to bear upon the life of to-day, and varying the
emphasis to suit the needs of his particular
locality. But the question is, ought he not
sometimes to preach Old Testament sermons,
that is, interpret passages of that ancient book
with close attention to their historical connection.
No one suggests that it shall be criminal to
take fine phrases, suggestive sentences from the
songs or stories, and use these as mottoes for
inspiring discourses, but the question arises
whether in this case sufficient justice is rendered
to that great literature ; is not something more
required ? We have heard sermons on the words,
"What doest thou here, Elijah?" in which there
was nothing about Elijah and his work ; and
similar phrases have often been similarly treated.
Such sermons contained instruction and whole
some advice ; but surely if we believe that there
is "a revelation" of any kind in the book, there
is a message for us which can be caught only
by coming into closer contact with these great

XII.] Criticism and the Preacher 243
saints and heroes. Even those who think that
for public reading and popular use as little change
as possible should be made in the English Bible,
insist that to understand the Old Testament at
all a certain amount of historical study and
critical analysis is necessary. In 1883, Matthew
Arnold wrote two articles for the Nineteenth
Century in which he made the following state
ments with regard to the Revised Version : "If
by an act of authority the new version could be
made to supersede the old and the old to go out
of use, a blow would be struck at religion in this
country far more dangerous than the hindrances
with which it has to contend now — beer-shops.
Dissent, Ritualism, the Salvation Army, and the
rest of the long and sad list " ; and speaking of
the translation of a particular verse, Isa. ix. 5, in
the Authorised Version, " No one of us under
stands clearly what this means, and indeed a
clear meaning is not to be got out of the words,
which are a mistranslation. Yet they delight
the ear and they move us." But the whole
tenor of the article, while protesting against
losing the general effect in peddling details, is
to insist upon the need of historical knowledge,
and he specifically withdraws or modifies a former
statement to the effect that he "would forbear
to alter the old version of Isaiah where it made
sense, whether the sense made was that of the
original or not.'' Surely no one would undervalue

244 Criticism and the Preacher [chap.
the beneficent influence of the noblest English
version ; the intelligent preacher will make wise
use of it in reading and quotation. But the
great scholar from whom we have quoted would
have been the last to deny that for the preacher
and his hearers there is a great blessing in the
wise use of historical criticism. It was by a
clear study of the history that he was led to
utter such words as these : " And nevertheless,
God is with us. In this Jerusalem, in this city
of David, in this sanctuary of the old religion,
God has been known, righteousness lived, the
root of the matter reached, as they never have
been in the world outside. The great world
outside has nothing so indispensable to mankind,
no germ so precious to mankind as the ' valley
of vision ' has. Therefore ' he that believeth
shall not take flight ' ; there is laid by the Eternal
in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone,
a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation 1 God
is with us" (April 1883, p. 597).
If a man simply reads " Isaiah " to admire the
noble language of the English version and to
feel a vague inspiring influence, he has something
to be thankful for ; but the intelligent reader, and
especially the expositor, must go further than that.
Suppose we note what analysis has done for
this book. When we regarded it as the work
of one man, it was impossible to form a very clear
idea of that man and his teaching, so many and

XII.] Criticism and tJte Preacher 245
varied are the great ideas embodied in these
sixty-six chapters ; in this case we have to divide
to conquer. The following analysis is now very
largely accepted, and it seems very simple, but it
has taken the work of more than a century to
bring it to its present form : Chapter i., a collection
of sayings of which we shall have something
more to say. Chapters ii.-xii., a small book
which admits of further analysis. Note that
the first four verses are found also in Mic. iv.
1-4, and that it concludes with a brief, beautiful
psalm, and that within this book we find the
preaching of Isaiah in the first period of his
ministry. Chapters xiii.-xxiii. Here we have
another book, the bond that links the chapters
together being the fact that they are all oracles
on foreign nations, though not all by Isaiah.
xxiv.-xxvii. A section that is apocalyptic and
eschatological, and contains a variety of songs
and oracles. It is regarded by scholars as one
of the latest parts of the book, xxviii.-xxxiii.
The section in which we find genuine preaching
of Isaiah belonging to his later period, xxxiv.
and xxxv. Two chapters which belong to the
period after the Exile, xxxvi.-xxxix. Historical
appendix found also in the Book of Kings.
xl-lv. " Deutero- Isaiah," the noble prophecy of
comfort addressed to the people in the time
of captivity and in their dark, hopeless days.
Ivi.-lxvi. A series of chapters belonging to

246 Criticism and the Preacher [chap.
the period after the return from Babylon, when
the struggling community is face to face with
hard prosaic facts. Whether one accepts the
prevailing views as to the dates here given or
not, we are compelled to acknowledge that such
an analysis is useful in our study of the book.
Returning to the first chapter, we are going
to divide it for the purpose of exposition ; it is
helpful to pay attention to the analysis given
by specialists. Take this division given by
Duhm : ver. i, the superscription; vers. 2-17,
the discourse; 18-20, two oracles; 21-26, the^
poem on Jerusalem ; 27-28, a late addition,
speaking of Zion in a different tone; 29-31, a
fragment denouncing the worship in the groves
and among the trees. A later writer (Marti)
connects the last two sections, and he regards
them as being of late date ; with such details
we cannot now deal. But it is clear that the
preacher, before dividing books and passages
for the purposes of practical exposition, needs
to pay attention to the work of men who have
consecrated to this task great learning and skill.
Or, to put it in another way, the critical comment
aries which are now appearing, and which have
in them something repellent to the ordinary
reader, are the tools with which he must work
in an independent spirit and with courageous
industry. There may be, at times, too much
vigour and rigour in the work of these specialists.

XII,] Criticism and the Preacher 2i\rj
their distinctions may sometimes be too finely
drawn, but in most cases they call attention to
something in the text which is worthy of con
sideration by the careful expositor. Such discus
sion, quite unsuited to the pulpit, may be very
fruitful for private study and personal thought.
It is not to be expected that many pastors can
keep abreast of the latest German speculators in
exegesis and history, but those who are 9,ble to
pass from Driver to Steuernagel and give some
quiet hours to the study of historical and linguistic
details, will find that whatever their final opinions
may be, they have gained a deeper knowledge of
Deuteronomy and the life that it represents.
The principle that Gunkel has laid down so
distinctly and emphatically with regard to the
narratives of Genesis is an important one, namely,
that each story must be taken by itself This
means that a passage like Gen. ii. ^b-iii.
needs not only to be studied for itself, apart
from late Jewish theology and Christian appli
cations, but it must also be freed from its own
context, which is likely to overshadow it and lift
it into a circle of ideas originally foreign to it.
If there is a J, E, and P distinction in Genesis,
it must be reckoned with in the critical process
that lies behind the exposition. We cannot
any longer treat the Paradise story as the im
mediate continuation of the cosmology in chap. i.
(see Chapter XIII.). In this particular we must

248 Criticism and the Preacher [chap.
advance beyond the kind of treatment given by
Dr. Marcus Dods in his noble discourses {The
Expositor's Bible). This does not mean that the
great ideas of Christian theology are rejected
as baseless. Neither does it suggest that the
thought drawn from the arrangement of the
material in Genesis, that often with increase of
population, wealth, and science there has been
increase of wickedness, is altogether without
foundation. But it does mean that it is worth
while sometimes to go behind our advanced
theology and study the ideas of these early
narratives in their most primitive form in a way
that brings us into close communion with our
spiritual forefathers. It is very difficult to say
how far such analysis should be carried ; that
depends upon the circle to which the com
mentary or lecture is addressed. Such a chapter
as Gen. xviii., for example, ought certainly to
be divided for purposes of exposition, since, if
our criticism has any value at all, it is evident
that the story in vers. 1-15 is more primitive
in its character than the theological statement
contained in vers. 22-33. Such illustrations
need not be multiplied, but the principle needs
to be insisted upon, that in many cases care must
be exercised to find out the original unit in order
to reconstruct a picture and rescue a thought from
that far-off time. If it is said that this is mere
literary dilettanteism, a waste of time for the man

XII.] Criticism and the Preacher 249
who Is face to face with pressing problems of
practical life, we are content to leave the de
cision to those who are prepared to give it a
fair trial. Many of the great leaders of the past
have been keen students of history and strong in
the field of exegesis. This must continue in some
form if the Bible is to keep its place in the mind
and heart of the people.
The study of ancient Hebrew literature as a
means of reaching the life of men and women
to whom religion was a matter of supreme interest
and importance ; the study of this life as a part
of the great movement through which, in the
providence of God, our own religion has come to
us, surely this is a great subject to any man who
believes that there is meaning and purpose in the
life of humanity. This subject will be studied,
that is certain, because it has tremendous power
of attraction and inspiration ; the question is
whether the men who in a special sense represent
the Church and seek to guide its life will rise to
the level of this high demand. For ourselves, we
are convinced that in any revival of religion
worthy of the name such study must play its
part. Precious are these memorials from the
great past, and by reverent, thoughtful study we
may show our gratitude that such records of
God's dealings with men are preserved for
evermore.

CHAPTER XIIL
MODERN INTERPRETATION OF ANCIENT
STORIES.
Those preachers who have lived and worked
during the last generation, when the results of
long years of criticism were forced upon their
attention and brought to the notice of the larger
public, have had the experience of losing some
of the Old Testament stories, so far as pulpit use
was concerned, and then the joy of finding them
again in a richer, more suggestive form. When
a man was passing to a different standpoint and
a larger, freer thought of inspiration, it was
difficult, for a time, for him to know what to
make of the early narratives, which had formerly
been treated as parts of actual world history. It
was no longer possible to write beautiful essays
on the first chapters of Genesis, ignoring the
results of criticism as formulated in the docu
mentary theory and the ever increasing flood
of light from ancient Babylon. It is impossible
to make comments upon these stories without
revealing, directly or indirectly, our point of view

CHAP. XIII.] Ancient Stories 251
as to the whole of the Old Testament, and the
amount of criticism that we have assimilated or
rejected. In dealing with a late poem like Ps.
Ixxiii. the Christian preacher may feel quite at
home, for this saint of the olden time comes in
many respects near to the Christian spirit ; and
simply to give a noble paraphrase of the psalm,
to tell in clear, simple words how he fought and
conquered doubt, this in itself is helpful and
inspiring. If we care to follow with real atten
tion the story of this " Pilgrim's Progress through
Doubt to a Higher Faith," we are face to face
with a spiritual conflict which, both as to substance
and form, is not unlike the battle which we have
sometimes to meet. But if we go five or six cen
turies farther back, the material is not so easily
handled ; we are tempted to fall back upon vain
apologies or barren allegorising. There is no
salvation for the preacher along that line ; he
must first exercise severe critical processes in
the study in order to be equipped for real
interpretation in the pulpit.
Let us take as the first illustration the story
of the Tower of Babel, Gen. xi. 1-9. It seems
quite evident that it is not necessary to apologise
for this simple story, or to try to prove its inspira
tion from the historical science that it contains.
Dr. Orr, seeking to cast light from archaeology on
this interesting passage, says, "A still wider result
from these explorations, in their bearings on our

252 Modern Interpretation of [chap.
subject, is the growing conviction that ' the plain
of Shinar' (chap, xi.), or Southern Babylonia,
was really the centre of distribution of the families
of mankind. Babylonian civilisation is carried
back by the discoveries at Nippur to a period so
much earlier than that of any other known civili
sation, that the inference seems irresistible that
it is the source from which these other civilisations
are derived." " The Biblical account of these
matters, in short, is found to rest on far older
and more accurate information than that possessed
by any scholars prior to the new discoveries "
{The Problem of the O.T. p. 402). Well, what
is the good of this if our faith in the Bible does
not rest on this kind of thing? Our author
assures us elsewhere that "inspiration does not
create the materials of its record, but works with
those it has received " (p. 486). But further, the
statement, while nominally accepting the great
age of the Babylonian civilisation, seems still to
have as its background the old idea of a world
about six or seven thousand years old. That
Babylon was a source and centre of civilisations
is one thing, that it was the centre of the distri
bution of the families of mankind is surely not the
same thing. Hear, then, what Dr. Hommel has
to say on this point, " In the biblical story of
the Tower of Babel (Gen. xi. 1-9), ver. 9 is
probably a later addition, for Babel was certainly
not amongst the oldest sanctuaries of the land of

xni.] Ancient Stories 253
Shinar (Chaldsa)" (H.D.B. i. 213). By this bit
of minute criticism the archaeologist destroys the
point of the story ; but in so doing he shows that
he realises the immense age that lies behind the
movements and migrations of humanity, and that
we do not reach anything primitive when we
arrive at " Babel."
If we turn to archaeology as represented by
Dr. Pinches, we find, as we might expect, that
when the archaeologist deals with an ancient piece
of literature there is no support for the literal
interpretation to be gained from that quarter.
This scholar awakens our expectation when he
tells that it is needful to go carefully into the
matter to satisfy the believer of to-day with
regard to the story being a real historical fact,
because as an authoritative narrative it has had
the full belief of all the faithful for many thousand
years. The satisfaction given to the believer
may be found in the following statements :
" Concerning the miracle of the confusion of
tongues, there is, of course, no historical reference.
The Babylonian inscriptions know nothing of it.
Yet the stranger visiting Babylon could not have
been otherwise than struck by the number of
languages spoken there" (Pinches, The O.T.
in the Light of the Historical Records of
Assyria, etc., p. 139). "There is great improb
ability that the statement that the whole earth
was of one language and of one speech was

254 Modern Interpretation of [chap.
ever believed by thinking men at the time as an
actual historical fact. A better translation would
be the whole land, that is, the whole tract of
country from the Mountains of Elam to the
Mediterranean Sea" {ibid. p. 133). After this
somewhat free exegesis we have still further
criticism in the form of a suggestion that the
whole narrative is probably an interpolation
taken from an ancient source ; and, finally, we
are assured that "it was probably given for, and
recognised as, the legend current in Babylon
at the time, and must, therefore, have been
recognised and valued by the people of the time
at its true worth." There is very little real
" satisfaction " here, as we do not go beyond a
purely negative process.
It is now generally recognised that this story
belongs to the Yahwist stratum, and that it has
in some measure the character of a duplicate
(compare the different accounts of the dispersion
and of Babel in Genesis X.). Gunkel carries
the analysis farther, and thinks that we have
in chap. xi. 1-9 two stories, the City story,
which tells us of the building of a city for the
purpose of making a name, and the consequent
confusion of tongues when Yahweh thwarted the
ambitious men ; and the Tower story, which tells
of the building of a lofty tower to prevent the
scattering of mankind, a plan that is also brought
to nought by the interposition of Yahweh. If

XIII.] Ancient Stories 255
this is correct, then it is likely that the second
story ended with a name, the name of the tower,
that played upon the verb "to scatter," just as
in the City story there is the word-play. Babel
and "balal" (to confound).' If one marvels at
the exceeding brevity of such stories, it is well
to remember that the stories which circulated
among simple people in spoken form must have
been brief and compact. From the structure of
the story we pass now to its origin.
Shinar is evidently a Hebrew name for some
part of Babylonia, but the exact meaning is
uncertain ; the story relates to Babylon, and
probably arose in or near that city. It may
have existed in an earlier, more " heathenish "
form ; or, in other words, it is not the invention
of the Yahwist writer to whom we are indebted
for its preservation. In its present form it pre
sents Yahweh as the one supreme God, but its
phraseology shows a recollection of an earlier
mode of thought. A patriotic Babylonian would
not speak thus of his city and one of its temple
towers ; we have here rather the impression
made upon a simple-minded foreigner by the
many languages and the magnificent buildings
in that great centre of population. The name
" Babel " is here derived from the Hebrew ; and
the feeling of astonishment at the great brick
buildings would be natural to a dweller in Pales
tine, where stone was used for important build-

256 Modern Interpretation of [chap.
ings. Hence we may say that the story is in
many respects Hebrew in its present form. It
does not glorify Babylon or express the thoughts
of a cultured Babylonian.
" The legend answers several questions. The
first recension explains the origin of various
languages and at the same time the origin and
name of the city Babel ; the second the scatter
ing of men over the earth, and along with this
the origin and name of a primitive ' Tower ' in
Babylpniai The legend answers all these
questions in its poetic childlike style ; it is not
in a position to give a reliable scientific explana
tion of the Babylonian name ; just as little does
it know anything from historical recollection
concerning the origin of the city and the tower ;
still less has it an historical tradition from the
time in which the oldest languages and peoples
of Hither Asia arose, for no human recollection
reaches to that time. This story is therefore not
to be considered as historical tradition, but as a
naive, poetic answer of the old time to certain
questions" {Genesis Ubersetzt u. erkldrt von
Gunkel, p. 89). On this view the story contains
the observations and impressions of thoughtful
men. From such modest beginnings did the
vast, complex fabric of science grow ; but the
ancient Hebrews did not travel far along the
scientific path, their thoughts were set supremely
on what we call the practical and spiritual. If,

XIII.] Ancient Stories 257
as the old tradition says, all nations came from
one primeval pair, how is it that they show such
striking differences ? If they had remained one
united people, what great things they might
have done ; but it was Yahweh's good purpose to
set bounds to their ambition and to curb their
overweening pride. The Hebrews knew that
Babylon was a very ancient city ; for, according
to tradition, some of their ancestors had come
from that region, and they placed there the first
great movements of the human race. In Baby
lonia, gigantic buildings raised by slave labour
testified to the vanity and selfishness of men ;
some of these great monuments, half finished or
already crumbling to decay, showed how foolish
it was for men to hope for an eternal kingdom
or an everlasting name ; such privileges and
prerogatives belong to God alone. If we treat
the story with fullest sympathy, we cannot bring
it up to the level of the science and theology
of our own time, but there is a great spiritual
lesson in it ; it has a beautiful blending of living,
human interest, intellectual curiosity, and faith.
It is of special significance to note how the
religious powerful faith of the early Hebrew
teachers modified these primitive traditions and
used them for wise ends. "What the author
of our story, who was quite certainly a pious
Israelite and no Babylonian, had heard concern
ing Babel's old history and its old buildings, that
17

258 Modern Interpretation of [chap.
he uses for the purpose of exhibiting Yahweh's
power in the history of the first beginnings of
human culture. The history of our text teaches
us how a pious Israelite of old Israel sets the
oldest history of mankind in the light of his
faith" (Loofs, Die Sch'dpfungsgeschichte, etc.,
p. 30). Thus criticism frees the preacher from
the imposeible task of harmonising this and
similar stories with the ideas of our own time ;
each expositor is now at liberty, in his own way,
to show that in the simplest stories there are
suggestions of eternal truths.
The Assyriologists are not able to furnish
Babylonian parallels to the story of Cain and
Abel, though they make earnest efforts in that
direction ; they give us instead speculations con
cerning the story of Tammuz or Adonis, which
probably have little to do with the matter. This
narrative appealed strongly to us in the days
of our childhood ; Cain and Abel have been
for us ever since living figures from the world's
earliest period. The story retained its suggestive
significance even when we were tormented by
historical problems. When we had solved the
somewhat juvenile puzzle concerning Cain's wife,
others more important remained, and some points
will for ever belong to the region of conjecture.
These primitive stories have been put together
to give the appearance of a connected history,
and elaborate theological theories have been

XIII.] Ancient Stories 259
built upon the manner of this combination.
Critical analysis now enables us to go behind
these later arrangements and interpretations ; we
must take each picture separately and study it
in and for itself. Then we see that the story of
Cain and Abel does not belong to the beginning
of the world's history, but to a later time, when
men were organised into tribes and societies.
There are at least two Cains, for the nomad and
the city-builder can scarcely be the same. For
our present purpose, these critical questions, while
very important, must remain in the background ;
we are seeking to catch the spirit of the story.
In early days writing material was scarce and
stories were limited in number ; the same
material had to pass through different forms and
serve a variety of purposes. It is possible that
originally there was here an account of the
relations of two tribes, and that the " mark of
Cain " had a tribal significance. This much
seems clear, but it is no longer possible to trace
clearly the primitive form ; the identification of
Cain with the Kenites is attractive but not con
vincing. The two figures stand out now in their
individual characters ; in their speech and con
duct they reveal certain great ideas and living
beliefs of the Hebrew people. Unfortunately the
picture has not quite escaped the ravages of
time and change : ver. 7 is in poor condition, it
is difficult to determine whether it is a warning to

26o Modern Interpretation of [chap.
Cain not to yield to discontent, or a statement of
his freedom and power to choose between good
and evil. Perhaps the writing had been illegible
and some scribe attempted to restore it from iii.
1 6. Sufficient of it is clear enough to carry our
thoughts back to distant times and other forms of
thought. But in order to follow it we must be
willing to dismiss for a while our present theo
logical conceptions, and to believe that thoughts
which to us seem very imperfect were strong and
satisfactory to men of earlier days.
The sacrificial worship is here carried back to
the earliest days, and while this does not square
with later Jewish theories', it is a correct tradition ;
long before Moses lived and before the Hebrews
existed as a nation, men rendered homage to God
by their sacrificial offerings. Why, then, was
one sacrifice accepted and the other rejected?
Dr. Driver, while noting the opinion that there
underlies the story an early struggle between two
theories of sacrifice, which ended in the triumph
of the theory that the right offering to be made
consisted in the life of an animal, prefers the
view that there is " a collateral aim of the narrator
to emphasise the prophetic teaching that it is
not the gift, but the spirit in which the gift is
offered, which determines its value in the sight
of God " (Driver, Genesis, p. 64. See also Kent,
Origin and permanent Value of the O. T. , p.
239). This is a great truth, and we have the

xHi.] Ancient Stories 261
authority of the New Testament for connecting
it with this passage (Heb. xii. 24). Was not
the prophetic teaching rather a sharp contrast
between the worship by sacrifice and the wor
ship of a good life? (Amos v. 21 ; Hos. vi. 6;
Isa. i. 12). Is it not well for us to remember
that there were days long ago when the most
thoughtful men had not reached any great depth
of spiritual refinement ? They could then say
that Yahweh blessed the shepherd and rejected
the tiller of the soil simply because it was His
will. There is much tribalism and sectarianism
still clinging to our religion, though this is no
longer in harmony with the highest conception
of religion ; under the influence of our Saviour's
teaching it will in due time be cast off as one
of the beggarly elements of the past.
Now, in our complex civilised society we expect
that the administration of justice will be carried
on with calm deliberation and absolute imparti
ality. This ideal is kept constantly before us ;
but sometimes machinery works in a slow,
irregular fashion, and the crowd gives way to the
lust for vengeance; then we see that "primitive
man," a creature of hot blood and fierce prejudice,
lies not far below the surface. In this case we
are told that the blood of the man who has been
brutally slain lies upon the ground unburied and
unavenged : no one has undertaken the sacred
office of justice, so it cries to Heaven, and Yahweh

262 Modern Interpretation of [chap.
hears the dread appeal. This is not poetry,
it is not figurative speech, it is grim reality ;
every word is felt as absolutely true, and all too
weak to express the faith that God in heaven
will vindicate justice. He is an avenger of blood
and a righter of wrongs. When our political
constitution is in danger of becoming mere
machinery, we must get back to these permanent
fundamental ideas which alone can give meaning
to our legal terms and weight to our legal forms.
Now we speak quite literally of the " round
world," and we visualise the tiny globe on which
the drama of human life is played ; each morning
we receive our newspapers, and note in the mind's
eye the places where the stress is fiercest. Not
from such a world, swinging in limitless space,
circled by swift ships and swifter trains, did our
story come, but from some small portion of the
land where men tilled the soil or tended the sheep,
and had as a dim outlook the great and terrible
wilderness. The unworthy member of society is
rejected by the soil, the very earth takes the side
of justice ; it refuses to yield fruit to the man who
has poured innocent blood upon it. Man is
dependent on the soil ; his life is bound up with
that of the family, the clan, and the tribe ; cut off
from these he becomes a wanderer, " a tramp " ;
no one is responsible for him, any one may slay
him. The man who owes everything to society
should respond to social claims and show respect

XIII.] Ancient Stories 263
for social duties. A man without a mark, a
"passport," to show to what tribe and god he
belongs is a helpless creature. The mark of Cain
was a gift of mercy, a protecting sign. The
passport to-day means that the weight of a great
nation lies behind the individual man. We talk
much in these days about society as an organism,
and the solidarity of the race ; and we do well to
commune with men who lived in a small world
less fully equipped with political forms and social
machinery, with men in whose lives these ideas
were primitive and palpitating, men whose very
existence depended upon loyalty to the tribe and
the due observance of the fact that each man was
his brother's keeper and helper.
The story of Abraham's faith as shown in his
willingness to sacrifice his only son must always
remain one of the most attractive and living
pieces of Hebrew literature. Notwithstanding
its pathetic beauty, it began to be burdensome to
the Christian conscience until the idea of histori
cal development was fully grasped, and various
methods were used to show either that God
never gave such a command, or to explain how
it was possible for Him to give it. There is no
need to quarrel about such phrases as "historical
development" and "progressive revelation," each
term has its own shade of meaning and its
appropriate use ; the people are interested in the
story of human life, but they do not worry over

264 Modern Interpretation of [chap.
fine theological distinctions which to the average
mind seem to be meaningless or merely conven
tional. It is sufficient now to recognise broadly
the fact that centuries ago an enlightened, pious
man might regard a command as coming from
God which to us is utterly irreconcilable with a
true thought of the Divine Wisdom and Love.
A man living in the supposed age of Abraham
might face such a possibility as this, but for the
Apostle Paul, fifteen hundred years later, such a
thought could not arise ; by the teaching of
inspired leaders it had been removed from the
realm of enlightened practical religion. Only an
ignorant literalism could express itself in this
way ; we have learned by centuries of experience
and by the highest examples what is the true
nature of sacrifice and service.
When we now attempt to expound this narra
tive and make it a means of instruction to
the men and women of our own day, we have to
consider first the conclusions which have been
reached by a great body of scholars : ( i ) The
narrative is not a contemporary record ; it did
not take its present form until long after the
"Abrahamic Age." Hence it must be placed
in relation to the life of Israel as revealed in the
historic period, and we must compare it with
actual facts and important teaching of that period
(Judg. xL ; 2 Kings iii. 27 ; Mic. vi.). That
child-sacrifice does not hold any place in Hebrew

XIII.] Ancient Stories 265
religion strictly so called, but at special times it
pressed in from surrounding nations or as a
survival from the distant past. (2) That in this
piece a traditional story is used to glorify Abraham
as the pattern of faith and self-sacrifice, while
through the form in which this is presented it is
shown that Yahweh does not desire child-sacrifice.
(3) An ingenious attempt has been made by
Gunkel to go still farther back, and to show that
in its earliest form the story was a legend con
nected with a particular sanctuary, telling how in
the distant past the sacrifice of a ram was by the
god's command substituted for the offering of
a child. Thus a very ancient story has been
transformed and used as a sermon in favour of
heroic obedience and submission, but against the
crude and cruel forms in which such faith had
often found expression. All this is complicated,
and belongs to the study rather than the pulpit ;
but it is evident that before a preacher can give
a living exposition of these themes he must face
these questions and make up his mind as to the
character of the story ; then, with a clear " exe
getical conscience " he can give a suggestive
interpretation and suitable application.
When we turn to the suggestive story recorded
in 2 Sam. xxi. 1-14, we have the advantage
of dealing with an account that is accepted as
both ancient and literally correct; it probably
comes from the period to which it refers, and.

266 Modern Interpretation of [chap.
apart from small textual questions, gives a full
and clear statement of what actually occurred.
This, however, does not make it an easy subject
for exposition, it belongs to a time and circle of
thought remote from our own ; their ways were
not as our ways, nor their thoughts as ours.
There is a certain sublimity about this tragic
story ; everything goes on with dignity and
solemnity, or, in other words, with a real religious
spirit. The famine is interpreted as a direct
manifestation of Yahweh's anger ; the oracle is
consulted and the answer received ; this answer
shows a stern sense of justice that refuses to be
bound by tribal limitations ; vengeance is carried
out in a grim fashion, and one poor mother stands
in silent submission to guard the bodies of her
dead. Thus we have a primitive interpretation
of nature, a clear recognition of vengeance, and
a magnificent manifestation of the spirit of
motherhood. Before a scene that is so real, so
instinct with primitive ideas and elemental passion,
our poor apologies shrink into silence. Why
not frankly acknowledge that these people are
seeking after God, and finding Him in their own
way ? Their science, their theology is different
from ours, but they are in dead earnest ; in the
world about them and in their own lives they are
determined to find the dread presence of the great
Judge. We are in danger of losing Him in all
this complicated machinery and tame convention-

XIII.] Ancient Stories 267
ality ; if we will cease pitying these ancestors of
ours, cease apologising for them and accept them
as in some sense messengers of God, we may
learn much from them. David was not an
advanced theologian, but he was a generous,
heroic soul, the creature of his age as well as
in a measure the maker of it, a man who was
struggling through the dim light to a clearer
vision of God.

CHAPTER XIV.
THE MESSAGE OF THE PROPHETS.
In this brief statement it is not possible to
attempt to disentangle the different lines of
teaching, moral, theological. Messianic, and
eschatological, that are embodied in the various
prophetic books. That is a large field to explore ;
it would require much time, labour, and skill.
The prophets we now refer to are the men who
in the early days fought against superstition, and
preached to their fellow-men a noble faith ; the
men whose teaching, freed from non-essentials, is
summed up in the great text, "He hath showed
thee, O man, what is good ; and what doth
Yahweh require of thee, but to do justly, and to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God ? "
The great theological ideas, the striking pre
dictions, the mighty hopes for the future, play
a great part in giving to Hebrew literature its
particular character, in forming the Jewish Church
and preparing the way for Christian theology.
But in these lectures we do not come so far down,
we are concerned with the background of the
268

chap. XIV.] The Message of the Prophets 269
Hebrew religion, its struggle for life in opposition
to tribal traditions and family customs, its success
through prophetic teaching in setting forth clearly
the great faith in the righteous God who demands
righteous conduct as the true worship and the
highest form of service.
There is considerable ambiguity in the phrase
"prophetic" and " pre-prophetic " as applied to the
history of Hebrew religion. Distinctions of this
kind which we are in the habit of drawing must
never be made too deep and abrupt. It is quite
legitimate to spea:k of one document as prophetic
and of another as priestly, when we mean that in
one case the predominant interest is in life and
ideas, while in the other it is in worship and ritual.
Even that distinction is not an absolute one.
But when we try to draw a line between one
period of the nation's life and another, we need to
be even more guarded. We are not dealing
with a piece of dead mechanism that can easily
be separated into its various parts, but with living
fibre whose threads run backward and forward in
delicate and subtle ways. That in a very real
sense there is something new and creative in the
prophetic movement of the eighth century B.C.
cannot be denied, but this movement must have
had its vital relations with the past, and we must
not regard this work as an absolutely new
beginning. We have to admit that when the
new dates for the various documents were first

270 The Message of the Prophets [chap.
accepted there was danger of setting the work of
the writing prophets in sharp contrast to all that
had gone before. The contribution of Professor
J. Robertson, The Early Religion of Israel,
rendered service at this point even if it did not
give full justice to the critical position. A state
ment such as that made by Dr. George Adam
Smith in his volume on Modern Criticism and
the Preaching of the Old Testament is, to say
the least, open to misconstruction. "It is plain,
then, that to whatever heights the religion of
Israel afterwards rose, it remained before the age
of the great prophets not only similar to, but in
all respects above-mentioned identical with, the
general Semitic religion ; which was not a mono
theism, but a polytheism with an opportunity for
monotheism at the heart of it — each tribe being
attached to one God, as to their particular Lord
and Father" (p. 130). Even in the few years
that have passed away since these words were
written, much has been said on the origin of
Hebrew monotheism and the nature of Semitic
religion in general, but even before that time
critics quite as radical as Dr. Smith were in the
habit of laying more stress on the earlier pro
phetic stages of the religion. Professor Marti,
whose radicalism in the region of literary criticism
leaves nothing to be desired, in his history of the
Israelite Religion gives a section to " Moses, a
Prophet." "And if we name him a prophet.

XIV.] The Message of the Prophets 271
this is not merely because Deut. xviii. 18 so
names him, but because his activity, as to its
origin, purpose, and means, was similar to that
of the other prophets. God's revelation is the
origin, God's lordship the purpose, the announce
ment of God's will the means of the same. He
is distinguished from the others in this alone, that
he was the creator of a movement in which others,
after him, were called of God to bring to a still
higher stage of knowledge, that he was the
founder of Yahwism which his prophetic successors
should raise to the true monotheism. Moses laid
the foundation of the most important develop
ment, which, because there dwelt in it a movement
towards the ethical, led to the perfect revelation
in Christianity. Therefore the praise which
Deut. xxxiv. 10 ff. lavishes upon him, that no
other prophet has arisen in Israel like him, is
justified for Old Testament times ; for only on
the foundation of his work can the other prophets
be understood" (Marti, Geschichte des I sraelit
ischen Religion, p. 59). Compare also his chapter
on The Nomad Religion in a more recent volume,
which concludes with the following words : " The
Israelite nomad religion stands out in striking
contrast from the background of the common
Semitic nomad religion from which it originated.
Compared with the common polydemonism, it is
a prophetic popular religion. Jahwe is the God
of the people, and the internal social development

272 The Message of the Prophets [chap.
is His concern as well ; that is why the germs
which in after times developed so clearly into
ethical demands existed in the infancy of the
religion of Israel. By the side of Jahwe the
people of Israel is not allowed to honour any
other god as its god. The old deities recede,
and there is no room for polytheism, for the
belief in many gods as the gods of the people of
Israel. Other peoples may have their own gods ;
Israel's God is Jahwe, and none other is to be
worshipped beside Him. Monolatry is the hall
mark of the old Israelite faith" (Marti, Religion
of the Old Testament, p. 70).
It is worth while dwelling on this point, since
the complaint has so often been raised that
modern critics cause the prophets of the eighth
century to arise without any previous preparation.
True, some extremists relegate those earlier cen
turies completely to the region of legend, but the
main trend of criticism is not in that direction.
Stade, in his Old Testament Theology, points
out that the phrase " pre-prophetic " is used only
for want of a better. It is liable to misunder
standing, since the religion of Israel so far as
founded by Moses is of prophetic origin; and
prophets arose in it before the eighth century
(p. 24). " So far as the work of Moses is rooted
in a mission committed to him, and has as its
presupposition a special revelation, he is a
prophet, which, of course, is also claimed for

XIV.] The Message of the Prophets 273
Miriam, Ex. xv. 20 ; Num. xii. 2. Hence,
although he passes in a high degree beyond the
circle of the prophets' activity, he is regarded in
later times as a prophet, Deut. xviii. 18, of course
as one without a fellow, who spoke with Yahweh
face to face, xxxiv. 10. The oldest passage that
designates him as a prophet (nabi) is, if genuine,
Hos. xii. 13. The revelation which came to
Moses as an inner experience concerning which
all authentic information is lacking, cannot be
described with precision. To the Christian its
reality is confirmed by further development which
had its origin in Moses" (p. 32). In an earlier
essay, this scholar, who is regarded by many as
extremely radical, had clung firmly to the histori
cal character of the work of Moses. "If we had
no legend concerning the work and person of
Moses, we would have to conclude from the
course of Israel's history that Israel's nationality
and religion were founded in some such events as
those which the religion relates, and that these
produced the peculiar tone of Israel's religion.
Hence it does not seem permissible to doubt the
history of Moses " (Stade, Ausgewdhlte Academ-
ische Reden, etc., p. 160).
This means that as far back as we can go the
Hebrew religion has a prophetic element in it ;
that is, it is not a mere nature worship of any
kind ; its God-inspired leaders have the thought,
if even in a simple form, of one who binds the
18

274 The Message of the Prophets [chap.
nation together, guides its destiny and shapes
its life. This conclusion is not weakened by
the fact that we are able to hear so little of the
direct speech of these earliest leaders ; if the
words of the writing prophets are great and
everlasting deeds, the deeds of these silent
heroes are a great word of revelation. The
evidence before us, if inferential, is of the
strongest kind, and is based upon the actual
existence and peculiar character of the religion.
Amos was not the first who heard the all-com
pelling voice, and brought from the inner
sanctuary messages of real power to bear upon
the daily life of men. Isaiah had a clearer
vision of the King ; but long before him men
confessed the supremacy of Yahweh, and proved
the power of a living faith to nerve them for
heroic deeds. Hosea gave new tenderness to
the thought of loyalty and service, but in still
earlier times some chivalrous feelings and kindly
sympathies were nourished and strengthened
by the consciousness of the common faith and
common brotherhood. All through the history,
in spite of the scantiness of the record, we gain
glimpses of such men, working in rude times
and often by rough means. But in their efforts
there is something deeper than political enthusi
asm and ecstatic rapture, there is a recognition
of certain righteous laws that are binding upon
all classes. Many of these men might resemble

xiv.] The Message of the Prophets 275
in their form of service and manner of life the
devotees of religion among other Semitic peoples,
but there was a nobler leaven working among
them. Great heroic figures such as Elijah tower
above the mass of their fellows and leave an
impression that can never be lost. Though the
story of such a man's life cannot all be accepted
as literal history in our sense of that term, yet
we can now see clearly that he not only fought
with noble intolerance for the religion of his
own people against foreign corruption, but also
sought to vindicate righteousness within the
borders of his own nation. Gunkel's popular
book on Elias, fahve und Baal is an illustra
tion of very radical criticism united with a
determination to reconstruct the history in a
positive manner and make its moral and religious
significance stand out clearly. After describing
various kinds of prophets and seers of this
period, he says, " Elias might resemble in many
things prophets of the ordinary stamp, but still
he is much more than they. He does not scorn
to receive gifts from the faithful, but it is far
from him to turn prophecy into a trade. The
great man can now and then bow down to the
need of the poor and to the help of the widow,
but his special circle of action lies in the great
things that concern the whole people. He is,
as were others in his time, a ' political ' prophet :
but he does not, like the usual politicians among

276 The Message of the Prophets [chap.
the prophets, stand on the side of the rulers,
he rather opposes the king ; in this he is like
a Micaiah, the opponent of Ahab, an Ahijah,
a Samuel when he rejected Saul's kingship.
Yes, more than Samuel and Ahijah he stands
in opposition to his people ; he predicts destruc
tion for Israel. And in this we recognise his
kinship with the greatest among all Israelite
men of God, with Moses who also must struggle
with his contradictory people, still more plainly
with the great writing prophets who follow on
Elijah, with the series of prophets who begin
with Amos, Hosea, Isaiah. All these later
ones like Elijah give predictions concerning
Israel's destiny, they are prophets of evil in
conflict with their people. They are the legiti
mate continuers of Elijah's work " (p. 47).
A little more quotation of this kind may be
tolerated, as it illustrates the fact, which we wish
to emphasise, the existence of a succession
of men who endeavoured to keep the people
faithful to their own religion and to lift that
religion to a higher stage ; and at the same
time it shows us how men who use the critical
method most thoroughly are seeking with the
greatest patience to recover positive results in
the history of Israel's life and religion. Speaking
of Elijah's relation to monolatry, he says : " It
is not easy to describe correctly the position of
Elijah on this point in the history of religion.

XIV.] The Message of the Prophets 277
For, on the one side, it is certain that in this
enthusiasm for the one Yahweh to the exclusion
of every other God he was unintelligible to the
majority of his people ; this indeed is the tragedy
of his life. On the other side, they have listened
to his preaching; he has become the "troubler"
of his people, even as he was reproached with
being ; he has with his word kindled the brand
which set fire to the king's house and consumed
it so that none were left. And in Judah, Baal
was rooted out by the people of the land. Also
the Yahweh religion was from tho beginning,
from the time of Moses, a religion of zeal and
already in the oldest time the worship of Baal-
peor — witness the old legend Num. xxv. —
was felt to be sin, apostasy. We may unite
these two series of considerations, while we
suppose that in Elijah, and those of similar
disposition, feelings of the oldest Israel which
had been forgotten in wide circles and only
survived among the few, now in this crisis of
the people and the religion come to the front
again ; at all events we know the significance
of this feeling of monolatry for the following
time. Already the legend of Elijah shows how
these thoughts continued to work; those who
narrated these stories did not recognise
Ahab's syncretism, maintaining that he did
not worship Yahweh alongside of Baal, but
had fallen away from Yahweh ; whoever is

278 The Message of the Prophets [chap.
not for Yahweh alone is against Him. The
coming prophets will cause to sound more
mightily the keynote which Elijah has struck.
This hatred of Elijah against Baal, posterity
will cherish against every heathen god : the
gods of the heathen are nothing, the whole
earth belongs to Yahweh ; He is its Lord and
Creator. The hatred against foreign gods will
in later times be sharpened by Israel's wretched
ness ; it will not only be despised as a broken
nation, but at the same time will be hated,
an odium generis humani. But the Jewish
monotheism will, when the time comes, gain
the hearts of the heathen ; salvation comes from
the Jews" (p. 53).
"But Yahweh is more than the God of the
crude and as yet little corrupted people ; He
is at the same time for Elijah the God of right.
In the case of the murder of Naboth, Elijah
stands up in the name of Yahweh, who demands
right and righteousness in Israel, and who
avenges the shed blood of the innocent : ' Yester
day have I seen the blood of Naboth and his
sons, and I will recompense it upon thee here
in this field.'
" Even this is not new ; on the contrary, it was
a primitive conviction that the poured out blood
cries to Heaven for vengeance, and that Yahweh
Himself will be the avenger of blood, if no other
voice speaks out. The legend of Cain murdering

XIV.] 7^ he Message of the Prophets 279
his brother has already spoken of this. But the
energy with which Elijah agitated against Na-
both's murder is unheard of For the sins of kings
are judged differently from those of private per
sons. The frightful and bloody deeds of Solomon,
who caused to be put to death his own brother
and his father's meritorious general, were excused :
for the Israelite king who must maintain himself
against rivals is compelled to do many things
which would not be allowed to the private citizen.
And in the Orient oppression of the lower classes
was a common thing. ' In the old Orient, and
even still in the present, such things are of daily
occurrence, and are taken by everybody as a matter
of course.' But Elijah thinks differently ; murder
is murder, even if it is by the king himself. To
Ahab a shameful death is predicted, not on
account of Baal, but because of Naboth, and in
this the people are able to understand him ; the
announcement of judgment against Ahab the
murderer, found an echo in the general conscience,
as is testified by the word which Jehu speaks
when He executes judgment on Ahab's flesh
and blood" (p. 61).
Thus are men well equipped for the task,
seeking to trace the long, slow progress of the
prophetic movement, which in other words is the
struggle of noble men for righteousness. The
Power that makes for righteousness finds voice in
these men ; in and through them it struggles for

28o The Message of the Prophets [chap.
clearness and strength of expression. Laws
of righteousness find expression also in what we
call the world of nature, but it is in the heart
of mankind and in the relations of the human
family that they require and receive the most
delicate adjustment. It is here that inspiration
finds its full play, calling men to toil and suffer
for the truth, and to prove their real humanity by
unselfish service. Inspiration as a dictation of
words or impartation of dogmas may have to be
given up or modified, but inspiration as the divine
power which calls and qualifies men to be
messengers of God and servants of humanity,
stands out more clearly as the result of all this
criticism. At this point something may be said
as to Wellhausen's " clear and honourable words " :
"Why, for example, did not Chemosh of Moab
become the God of righteousness and the creator
of heaven and earth :. a satisfactory answer to
this cannot be given " (Baentsch, Monotheismus,
p. 9). One answer, or one part of the answer,
surely is that in Israel there was a succession of
prophetic men, of men who at ' different stages
knew how to choose between the higher and
the lower, the temporary and the eternal ; and
that these men carried forward through the
centuries a progressive movement which is larger
than any one or all of them, of which we have
to say, "It is the Lord's doing, and it is mar
vellous in our eyes." This is not an answer that

XIV.] The Message of the Prophets 281
attempts to stand in the way of critical investiga
tion ; it remains open to specialists to inquire how
much these men and their nation owe to a still
more distant past. There is no return possible to
the older view as to the nature and order of the
documents. And the controversy as to how far
our views concerning the earliest idea of God must
be modified by recent discoveries is far from being
settled ; but there is one thing that becomes ever
clearer, namely, that from the Hebrew documents,
scanty as they are, we can build up the picture of
a religion which grows in purity and strength, and
also becomes enriched by the very influences that
threaten to submerge it. The line between
prophets, priests, and lawgiver must not be drawn
too deeply here ; there were many workers in
this great field who, from many sides, contributed
to a higher social life and a deeper individual
faith. If there is such a thing as " mere natural
development," it is certainly not here ; a severely
critical investigation shows that the line of
natural development is broken, that is, we cannot
trace a regular scheme of progress from ancestor
worship to polytheism and then on to monotheism ;
but we find a people lifted out of base superstition
and drawn away from primitive belief by the
power of great ideas or the influence of living
truths preached by God-inspired men. As a
matter of fact, many of the people could not and
did not rise to this lofty height ; through the

282 The Message of the Prophets [chap,
struggle that was involved the nation was broken
and the people scattered, but the Church lives
and the Book survives. One of the mightiest
witnesses for God's care of and interest in human
life is the work of these faithful men ; they were
often rejected by their fellow-men, but they stand
forth justified in the large space of the world's
history. Without them "the fulness of times,"
the season for still higher thoughts and larger
purposes, could not have appeared. We do not
belittle others in giving to them their due meed of
praise ; all who are capable of impartial judgment
must admit that God has granted them a high
and honourable place in the educational course
through which the world passed.
The message of the prophets, then, in various
forms, was related to the oneness of God ; at first,
one God for their own nation, and later one God for
the wide world. They were not philosophers, but
rather practical workers ; this, however, they had
in common with the true philosophers, that they
were seeking the one purpose and the one true
life that give unity and meaning to the world.
Their world was smaller than ours, but they did
not wish to have it split up into separate, dis
connected sections ; they longed for unity and
harmony in their thought of the world and in the
life of man, one Lord whose worship should bind
the members of the nation into one family. This
was their aim in opposition to local Baals and

XIV.] The Message of the Prophets 283
foreign deities. The sun, moon, and stars had
been great gods ; but even they, in Israel's system,
must be regarded as creatures of God and servants
of men.
Out of this there springs the thought of the
brotherhood of men ; of course, it is at first the
brotherhood of Israelitish men, but a brotherhood
based upon the oneness of God must grow with
the growing idea of God. It is true that Judaism,
as a system, never completely solved this spiritual
problem ; for the saving of its life it was driven
by the stress of circumstances to assume more
and more a position of exclusiveness ; but this
simply means that Judaism could not fully express
in its national life and ecclesiastical constitution
all the principles, hopes, and anticipations of its
great prophets. The glory and tragedy of the
life of Israel is the fact that the small nation is
made the mother of mighty movements and the
organ of great ideas which for their expression
and fulfilment need the endless future and the
large stage of the whole world-history. What
was said of Isaiah may be true of all the prophets,
but our lack of knowledge does not lessen the
significance of the great movement. " Cultivated
people have in general a much clearer and more
connected notion of the important movements and
situations in Greek and Roman history — of the
Persian war, the rise of Athens, the Sicilian
expedition, the Roman Republic, the Punic wars.

284 The Message of the Prophets [chap.
Caesar and the Empire — than they have of the
historical movement and situation with which
Isaiah had to deal. But we cannot appreciate
Isaiah unless we have before our minds this
movement and situation " ( Matthew Arnold in
Nineteenth Century, April 1883, p. 595). Those
of us who are able to give some little time to
the study of this great subject feel that our know
ledge on many points leaves much to be desired,
but the general course of the movement stands
out with clear impressiveness.
As a whole, and in each of its members, this
movement witnesses for the supremacy of the moral
element in human life ; for the power that binds
men to God and each other. Every true prophet
has his own standpoint with regard to the politics
of the present and the hopes of the future, but
their love of righteousness and their boldness in
setting morality above mere convention are the
bonds that unite them into a sacred brotherhood.
The fact that they stand out most prominent in
troubled times does not mean that they love
stormy weather for its own sake, but rather that,
in such crises, righteousness is the one thing
likely to suffer and therefore to need defence.
When the old tribal customs and bonds were
weakened by the growth of cities and the cul
tivation of commerce, they saw that society must
be set upon a moral basis or suffer destruction.
When the nation itself was about to be broken

XIV.] The Message of the Prophets 285
to pieces, they saw in this a call for a deeper
spiritual life. They were careless as to ritual,
because they knew that there would always be
plenty of people to cherish an undue care for it ;
in a sense, it would take care of itself They
were interested in politics, but not as a profession
in which to show their skill or out of which they
might gain wealth or glory ; politics for them meant
simply the life of the nation in its relation to God
and to the great outside world. They were
social reformers ; to the earlier prophets man was
regarded always as a member of society rather
than as an independent individual. Social
morality is the chief concern of men like Isaiah
and Amos. In opposition to a showy ritual, they
set up their demands for justice between man
and man. To them there is no such thing as
"mere morality;" morality rightly understood
is religion. They are not psychologists in the
modern sense, they are not much given to intro
spection ; they have visions and hear voices, but
the purpose of all their revelations is to make the
man a better citizen, and to make the community
a kingdom ruled in a very real sense by the living
God. Theologies change, men's hopes of future
glory assume new forms, but here is something
permanent: the prophetic demand for personal
faithfulness and social righteousness is needed
in our day in the very form in which they pre
sented it. A careful study of the prophets will

286 The Message of the Prophets [chap. xiv.
show us the real meaning of "patriotism." It
will make us understand that there is nothing
more fatal to the life of the Church and the
nation than the divorce of religion from morality.
From them we learn that goodness is the highest
form of worship, and that nothing else can take its
place. Many great truths they have taught and
many noble ideals they have cherished, but it
must ever remain one of their chief glories that
they were so far above their age as to teach
that God desires mercy and not sacrifice ; and
that the true sacrifice is the conquest of self and
the service of our fellow-men. At the very heart
of their message is a strenuous call to serve God
by recognising the brotherhood of men.

NOTES.

CHAPTER II.
(A) The Problem, of the Old Testament, by James
Orr, D.D., London, 1906.
It would require more than one volume to review in
anything like a satisfactory manner Dr. Orr's recent
contribution to Old Testament criticism ; all that can
be attempted here is a brief explanation of the fact
that in the foregoing chapters it was impossible to
avoid several direct references to this volume ; and a
short statement of the reasons for regarding Dr. Orr's
position as unsatisfactory. Just at the time when the
present writer was called to deliver a series of lectures
for which the most suitable subject seemed to be the
present outlook for Old Testament Interpretation,
Dr. Orr's volume appeared, challenging the results of
modern Criticism, and making serious charges against
the great body of scholars who hold opinions differ
ing from his own. This book had the prestige of
having received the Bross prize of ^6,000, and so
could lay claim to be regarded as a strong attack on
modern scholarship in the name of Christian apologetics.
" This is unquestionably a work of great erudition. It
will repay careful and repeated study, and is likely to
287

288 Notes to Chapter II.
remain for long the weightiest indictment by a Scottish
theologian of the critical views at present all but
universally held by Old Testament scholars " (Rev.
Dr. J. A. Paterson, The Scottish Review, Feb. 22nd,
1906). Hence, while endeavouring to avoid dis
courteous attack, it was impossible to ignore a volume
fresh from the press, and dealing so vigorously with
the subject in hand.
A few additional remarks may now be added as to
the impression created by Dr. Orr's elaborate indict
ment, and in proof of the statement that the result is
not satisfactory. (i) Reviews may be quoted at
length to show that with all its learning and industry
the book comes too late in the day to have any real
far-reaching influence, but very little of this must
suffice. " While obtaining a very clear insight into
the difficulties of the critical position, especially in the
Graf-Wellhausen formulation of it, the uninitiated
reader would really gain very little idea from this
work of the seriousness of the problem of the Old
Testament. Such a reader, especially if he be
temperamentally opposed to the removal of the ancient
landmarks, would probably lay down Dr. Orr's book
with the easeful conviction that all the armies of the
aliens had been disastrously routed. The book is
indeed so ' plausible,' to use the word which Dr. Orr
applies to the Wellhausen hypothesis, that we fear it
will serve as ' poppy and mandragora ' to many persons
who will not take the time to examine exhaustively
the biblical data, and lull them to sleep in a false security
as to the tehableness of the ancient tradition," etc.
{Expository Times, 1906). A reviewer who has more
sympathy with " the conservative side " is driven to
the same conclusion. Principal Scrimger, writing in
the Presbyterian College Journal, Montreal Nov. 1906,

Notes to Chapter II. 289
speaking of the documentary theory, says, " The
strength of this theory lies not in its being able to set
at rest all the perplexing questions that may be asked,
but in the fact that it has general consistency with itself,
and seems to account for the literary variations that are
acknowledged to exist within the Pentateuch itself.
The great weakness of Dr. Orr's book is that it does
not present us with any alternative theory of a Mosaic
authorship which would naturally account for these
variations. The main problem remains a problem
still, and the conservative side still awaits some critic
who will furnish us with any adequate solution which
may command the support of its friends and compel
that of its foes." That Dr. Orr has not given complete
satisfaction to any except those who desire " the poppy
and mandragora " is not a matter for surprise, because
he has attempted an impossible task.
(2) It is easy enough to find difficulties of detail in
any great scheme of literary and historical interpreta
tion, but it is foolish to suppose that by finding such
difficulties we can restore an earlier system which has
fallen completely to pieces. Yet Dr. Orr seems to hold
that such is the effect of his vigorous polemic. " This is
my reply also to the point Professor Peake makes, that
to disprove the critical theory (were that possible) is not
to rehabilitate the traditional view — ' the one fixed point
with the experts is that, whatever theory is true, the
traditional is false.' I might remind Professor Peake
that the ' Mosaic authorship,' in the older unmodified
sense, is not the necessary antithesis to the ' modern '
view, and I have certainly never contended, as he
says, that ' the discordance of experts ' proves ' that the
traditional theory is right.' So far as the Biblical view
is defended, it is on the ground of its own evidence.
Still, the "discordance of experts,' which, as I have
19

290 Notes to Chapter II.
tried to show, goes through the whole theory, is an
important element in the case. And may it not be
reasonably held that when only two views, practically,
are in the field, opposed to each other in principle, the
disproof of the one is, in no small degree, the rehabilita
tion of the other ? " If we were assured that Dr. Orr
had disproved the one, then we might ask what is the
other? And when we come to that question the
answer would not be easy, for the phrase " Mosaicity "
is rightly charged with ambiguity, and the author in his
reply to Professor Paterson does not attempt to give
an exact definition of it. But we fail to see that Dr.
Orr has disproved the view that there was a gradual
evolution of law and ritual as seen in the three codes
of JE, D and P, and in the historical books of the
Bible. It is impossible to examine all the cases of
so-called contradiction among the critics, but these
seem to be very much exaggerated ; e.g., the complicated
analysis of Deuteronomy attempted by Steuernagel is
not in direct contradiction to the view commonly held ;
it accepts the main lines of the dominant opinion, but
goes behind this and seeks to give a more specific and
detailed account of the origin of the kernel of the book.
A similar remark might be made concerning the work
of Gunkel and that of other scholars (see Note on
Baentsch, Monotheism). The fundamental fallacy lying
behind Dr. Orr's position seems to be the idea that by
laying stress on these inconsistencies, supposed or real,
we can be driven back to a position more orthodox
than the " modern " one ; but what that position is we
have great difficulty in discovering.
(3) If the present writer stood alone in his failure
to discover Dr. Orr's exact position or to appreciate
the fine consistency of one whose great effort is to
discover the inconsistencies of other scholars, he

Notes to Chapter II. 291
might have to set it down to his own obtuseness ; but
having met several persons who professed admiration
for the book but were unable to give a clear account
of its position, having set it as a task to students of
more than average ability, and having noted the
opinions of even friendly reviewers, he is confirmed in
his impression that it does not grapple effectually with
the real problem. One of the most favourable reviews
was that given in the Expositor, July 1906; but the
writer of it. Professor D. S. Margoliouth, does not
find much difference between Dr. Orr's theory on p.
369 and the radical view opposed on p. 375, and
he sees that if any paragraph headed " And the Lord
spoke unto Moses, saying," contains any matter not
actually delivered by Moses, then Dr. Orr's own view
is not free from reproach. Dr. Orr is entitled to his
own view even if it is not free from reproach, but some
of us must confess to a feeling of irritation in reading
his apologetic, because it so oftens adopts the tone of
the superior person who is exactly right on every
point. For example. Dr. Orr writes to the Homiletic
Review, soon after the publication of his volume, to
explain that criticism is in a state of wild confusion,
but he is willing to concede a general J, E, and P
distinction in Genesis ; in the book itself he denounces
critical views as " rationalistic," and yet tells us that
even the most cautious and conservative of " believing "
scholars have been compelled to accept critical con
clusions (p. 81). He states clearly, what is self-
evident, that we must have " Higher Criticism " ; he
himself exercises all kinds of criticism, acknowledges
a debt even to " the rationalistic sort," and yet main
tains that modern criticism is in its main lines vitiated
by an anti-supernatural bias. The result, then, surely
must be that we have to discuss each case on its own

292 Notes to Chapter II.
merits, and we are compelled to acknowledge that
there are some questions in the Old Testament that
can be settled by literary and historical evidence, and,
further, that in such cases the same conclusions may
be reached by the reverent believer as well as by the
man who, on Dr. Orr's view, is an unbeliever. For
example, a man might gladly confess that there is a
living God behind the great movement, who could
inspire a sermon a century before the audience for it
was born, but yet when he examined the section called
" Deutero - Isaiah " (Isa. xl.-lv.), and took its own
testimony concerning itself, be convinced that this
particular sermon arose in the time to which it makes
its appeal. In other words, it is proved that many of
the results of modern criticism are based upon a
careful study of the facts of the particular cases ; and
it does not follow that if one accepts these he is bound
to accept the view either of Kuenen or of Dr. Orr as
to " the supernatural."
(4) The book begins with a statement of the prob
lem which, in our opinion, has the fault which its author
charges against the critics, namely, turns things upside
down by maintaining that a proper idea of the nature,
origin, and growth of Hebrew religion can be formed
before the date and order of the documents have been
settled. Next, in an eloquent chapter we have " The
Old Testament from its Own Point of View." Here
we have a noble eulogy of the Old Testament built up
mainly from the traditional point of view. But many
of the finest things in it, while quite appropriate for a
practical sermon, are beside the mark in a book which
professes to be a scientific examination of the critical
problems. In a book of devotion we expect warnings
against treating the Bible merely as a subject for
scientific dissection, but in this case the aim is rather

Notes to Chapter II. 293
to set up a Bible which speaks in its own voice and
tells its own clear tale in opposition to the mangled
Bible of modern critics. But even here we cannot
escape from critical questions ; only when the book has
been studied and examined can we say in what way
there is " fragmentariness " and " organic unity " in it.
We have no desire to criticise what is here said about
the glory and beauty of the Old Testament, but we
maintain that the way in which it is said is based
upon the traditional interpretation which even on the
author's own view must admit of modification. Next,
it is shown that if we accept the documents J, E, D,
and P, purpose can still be traced running through
the history; a fact that is accepted by all except those
who are unbelievers. A great part of the remainder
of the book is devoted to showing that this theory
of documents cannot be accepted in the form which
is now dominant, and yet, as we have seen, the
author accepts it in some form. This constant mihg-
ling of what is accepted with what is controverted,
and the qualifying of statements until they seem to
pass over to the other side, is what makes the book
a puzzle to the average student. Take such passages
as the following : —
" In what sense do we speak of ' history ' in these
early parts of the Bible ? So far we must agree with
the critics when they remind us that the history in the
Bible is religious history, that is, not bare narratives
of outward occurrences, as an ancient chronicler or
modern newspaper reporter might set them down, but
history written from a religious standpoint for purposes
of edification, and reflecting in its story the impression
on the mind of the beholder and on the writer, as well
as the objective fact. As respects the early periods,
it follows from what has been said, and is evident of

294 Notes to Chapter II.
itself, that what we have to do with is, for the most
part, not contemporary narration, but history in the
form of carefully preserved tradition, — not, indeed, as
the critics will have it, mere floating folk-lore, but
sacred tradition of real events and transactions in the
lives of real men, and of God's revelations and deal
ings with them — tradition on which we can rely as
faithfully conveying to us- the contents of God's mes
sage to them and to ourselves — yet still tradition,
having the rounded, dramatic character which narra
tives naturally assume as the result of repeated telling,
and recorded in the form in which they finally reached
the literary narrator. Such transmission may not
exclude a measure of ' idealisation ' and reflection of
later ideas and conditions ; but this, we are persuaded,
to a far smaller extent than many — even believing
writers — suppose. The view of the history thus indi
cated we now proceed to vindicate " (p. 8 7).
" To what conclusions have we now been led ?
" For one thing, it is first to be said, not to the
conclusion that Moses himself wrote the Pentateuch in
the precise shape or extent in which we now possess it ;
for the work, we think, shows very evident signs of
different pens and styles, of editorial redaction, of
stages of compilation. As before observed, its com
position has a history, whether we are able ever to track
satisfactorily that history or not. On the other hand,
next, very strongly to the view of the unity, essential
Mosaicity, and relative antiquity of the Pentateuch.
The unity which characterises the work has its basis
mainly in the history, knit together as that is by the
presence of a developing divine purpose ; but arises
also from the plan of the book, which must have been
laid down early, by one mind, or different minds
working together, while the memory of the great

Notes to Chapter II. 295
patriarchal traditions was yet fresh, and the impres
sions of the stupendous deliverance from Egypt, and
of the wonderful events connected with and following
it, were yet recent and vivid. In the collation and
preparation of the materials for this work — some of
them, perhaps, reaching back into pre-Mosaic times —
and the laying of the foundations of the existing
narratives, to which Moses by his own compositions,
according to constant tradition, lent the initial impulse,
many hands and minds may have co-operated, and
may have continued to co-operate, after the master
mind was removed ; but unity of purpose and will
gave a corresponding unity to the product of their
labours. So far from such a view being obsolete, or
disproved by modern criticism, we hold that internal
indications, external evidence, and the circumstances
of the Mosaic age itself, unite in lending their support
to its probability" (p. 369).
When, with regard to such passages, and there are
many of them, learned professors say it is hard to
distinguish the view given from the critical view, the
ordinary reader may be excused if he finds it difficult
to grasp the position clearly. In fact, it is a position
of unstable equilibrium, and one holding it, if he
continues to work at the subject, would be more likely
to go forward than backward.
(S) With regard to difficulties, it is clear that there
will never be a scheme of interpretation without
difficulties when we are dealing with a literature
that extends over a thousand years of life different
and distant from ours. Further, we must remember
that criticism is still in process, and, whatever the
final conclusions, it is too early to expect them yet.
Such a question, to mention only one, as the relation
of the books of Jeremiah and Deuteronomy to each

296 Notes to Chapter II.
other still calls for a considerable amount of investi
gation. Many difficulties of detail will no doubt
remain, but some of them will in the future receive
a better solution. In the meantime, criticism has
certainly given a clearer view of the history and a
nobler interpretation of the literature which men of
faith are glad to use for instruction and inspiration.
It is scarcely wise for Protestants to talk too much
about the taint of rationalism, or to be suspicious of
an opinion because it did not come from an orthodox
ecclesiastic. We are ever on the lookout for a still
more perfect construction of this great movement, but
we know full well that Dr. Orr has not supplied it.
(B) It is not intended in these notes to give anything
like a complete bibliography ; that would require a
volume of itself; it would be of little use to the
general reader, and one who is really a student of
these subjects knows where to find it. A number
of books will be mentioned that are accessible and
suitable to all who wish to read more widely round
the subject ; and a few extracts will be made from
articles, lectures, or books that are not within easy
reach. Introduction to the Temple Bible, by the Bishop of
Ripon (J. M. Dent & Co.). The Divine Library of
the Old Testament, by Dr. A. F. Kirkpatrick, D.D.
(Macmillan). The Bible, its Origin and Nature, by
Dr. Marcus Dods (Charles Scribner's Sons). Modern
Criticism and the Preaching of the Old Testament, by
Dr. G. A. Smith (Hodder & Stoughton). The Origin
and Permanent Value of the Old Testament, by
Professor Kent (Charles Scribner's Sons). Bennetts
Primer of the Bible (Methuen & Co.). Old Testament
Criticism and the Christian Church, by Professor J. E.
McFadyen (Charles Scribner's Sons). Monument Facts

Notes to Chapter II. 297
and Higher Critical Fancies, by A. H. Sayce, LL.D.,
D.D,, Professor of Assyriology in the University of
Oxford (Fleming H. Revell).
Professor Sayce's small volume is certainly by its
title and method of criticism provocative of sharp
reply. After penning the remarks in the text of this
book, the present writer came across a review in the
British Weekly for November 23rd, 1893, in which a
similar feeling is reflected : referring to a new book by
Dr. Sayce, the writer says, " It is very difficult to
understand what Professor Sayce means. He angrily
repudiates the idea that he believes in the inerrancy of
the Bible. In many irriportant respects, such as the
date of Daniel, he is at one with the critics, and yet
he is always making sallies upon them. The new
book will probably help us to understand what he is
driving at."
Professor Bennett says, "We may give a striking
example of the way in which Professor Sayce bases
large conclusions on slight and ambiguous evidence.
The name Kirjath-Sepher occurs in the Old Testament ;
it may mean ' Town of the book,' or ' Writing,' or
collectively ' of the Books,' i.e. ' of the library ' ; it may
also mean ' Town of the Scribe ' ; and, as in many
such cases, the form of the name may be an Israelite
corruption of an ancient Canaanite name which meant
something quite different. Scribes and writings were
often official and commercial, not literary. Yet on this
slight foundation combined with a little evidence even
more doubtful, Professor Sayce bases the statement that
' Kirjath-Sepher is an evidence that libraries existed
in Canaan at the epoch of the Israelitish invasion,
and that the fact was known and recollected by the
invaders'" {Contemporary Review, April 1906).
On the general question of libraries, see an article in

298 Notes to Chapter II.
the New York Independent for June 26th, 1906. The
writer says, " With the single probable exception of
Babylon, there is no reason to believe that the
Babylonian temples had libraries, that is, extensive
literary archives," etc. See also Driver's Genesis,
P- 143- The Canon.
On the Canon the standard works of Buhl and Ryle
may be consulted ; the article by Budde in the Encyl.
Bibl. is worthy of careful reading. The significance of
statements such as the following should be considered :
" The conclusion that there was a recognised Alexandrian
Canon distinct from that of Palestine has found much
favour with Roman Catholic critics, as it seemed to
give authority to the Apocrypha. But it is more
probable that there was no intention to erect a separate
standard of Canonicity, and that the additional books
were admitted partly owing to the Canon of Palestine
not having yet been definitely or authoritatively fixed,
partly owing to a certain breadth of practical view "
\hDB i. 289=').
" The broader-minded Jews of the dispersion, and
especially Alexandria and the early Christian Church,
refused to be bound by the narrow principle that
divine revelation ceased with Ezra. Accordingly we
find them adopting a larger canon, that included many
other later, writings, known in time as the apocryphal or
hidden books."
" While they will always be of great value in the
study of Jewish history, literature, and religion, the
majority of the apocryphal books undoubtedly belong
to the secondary group to which the Palestinian Jews
and the Protestant reformers assigned them. Three or
four, however, tested by the ultimate principles of canon-

Notes to Chapter II. 299
icity, are equal, if not superior, to certain books like
Chron., Esther, and Eccles." (Kent, The Permanent
Value, etc., pp. 219, 221).
The dead level theory of inspiration. On the practical
side compare the interesting statement by Dr. G. A.
Smith when speaking of the late Professer Drummond's
correspondents, " One and all tell how the literal accept
ance of the Bible — the faith which finds in it nothing
erroneous, nothing defective, and (outside of the
sacrifices and Temple) nothing temporary — is what
has driven them from religion. Henry Drummond
was not a Biblical scholar ; he was not an authority on
the Old Testament. But the large trust which his
personality and writings so magically produced, moved
men and women to address to him all kinds of questions.
It is astonishing how many of these had to do with
the Old Testament : with its discrepancies, its rigorous
laws, its pitiless tempers, its open treatment of sexual
questions, the atrocities which are narrated by its
histories and sanctioned by its laws. Unable upon the
lines of the teaching of their youth to reconcile these
with a belief in the goodness of God, the writers
had abandoned or were about to abandon the latter ;
yet they eagerly sought an explanation which would
save them from such a disaster" {O.T. Criticism., etc.,
p. 27).
On the theoretical side as we have pointed out,
criticism creates new difficulties for the theologian ; but
what do theologians exist for except to face difficulties
such as those raised in the above quotation ? All
that we can say at this point is that there is no such
thing as escaping them by going back to the traditional
view of the documents. (See a very useful volume
by Dr. W. N. Clarke, The Use of the Scriptures in
Theology. Charles Scribner's Sons.)

300 Notes to Chapter III.

CHAPTER III.
The fullest direct answer to Professor Sayce's recent
attack may be found from the pen of Dr. Bennett,
referred to above ; it meets the issue squarely, mentions
Dr. Sayce's serious departure from the traditional
view, and maintains that the body of expert Assyrio-
logical opinion is on the side of the critics : " In some
circles the idea is current that the various discoveries of
monuments, inscriptions, papyri in Egypt and Western
Asia have upset the conclusions which Biblical scholars
have arrived at through the patient labours of more
than a century. It is further supposed that these same
discoveries have rehabilitated the crude Rabbinical and
mediaeval views of the Bible, which most educated men
have long regarded as obsolete. That such ideas as to
the significance of the monuments are entirely erroneous
is generally recognised by those who are acquainted
with the facts and are not dominated by supposed
necessities of doctrine," etc. " One striking exposition
of modern criticism is the Polychrome Bible, and the
editor. Dr. Paul Haupt, is one of the most distinguished
Assyriologists of the day. Take again some of the
most important standard works on the Old; Testament
and the Monuments. To begin with, take Die Keilin-
schriften und das Alte Testament. This was originally
written by Schrader, was translated into English by
Dr. Whitehouse, and was recast by Zimmern and
Winckler. All these four scholars hold the modern
views as set forth above, and the same is true of A.
Jeremias, the author of Das Alte Testament im Lichte
des alien Orients" See also McCurdy's History,
Prophecy, and the Monuments, vol. iii.. Authority
and Archceology, etc., p. 145.

Notes to Chapter III. 301
The critic and the spade. This field of study is serious
enough and sometimes it threatens to be dull, hence it
is well that there should be diverting incidents, such as
the appearance of Dr. Emil Reich on the field with
sound of trumpets and brandishing of — spades. He
will tell us what must be done to destroy the apparently
" scientific rigour " of higher criticism. " Articles and
lectures will not do. Huge and unwieldy tomes are
very expensive and take too much precious time. In
this predicament it is best to resort to action. By
action, I mean the spade. Most of the fancies and
philological cobwebs of higher critics, whether in Greek,
Roman, or Oriental antiquity, have been satisfactorily
disposed of by the spade. Of the spade it cannot be
said that it is no ' specialist.' It cannot be said that
it is not ' competent,' that it is not ' dispassionate,'
that it is blustering. A spade is modest, impersonal,
to the point, efficient. When it speaks it does so in
no ambiguous terms. It is clear, patent, and irrefutable.
Let us then apply the spade." Before this we were
content to call a spade a spade, but after this wonder
ful revelation we see that we were very much in the
dark. But even the spade cannot work without money,
and the sum of ;£'3000 to ;^Sooo called for by Dr.
Reich is a modest sum when we remember that it is to
be applied for the purpose of digging up at Ed-daharije,
which may be the site of Kirjath-Sepher, a copy of
Genesis or Exodus in the cuneiform script, and that
this copy " would by one stroke and for ever dispose of
the preposterous, retrograde, and mediaeval method of
higher criticism." Surely this is excellent foolery, but
more suitable for Punch than for the Contemporary
Review of January 1906.
Archceology and the Patriarchal Histories. Dr.
Pinches (p. 141) tells us that, with one or two ex-

302 Notes to Chapter III.
ceptions, it is probable that we have nothing from
Babylonian sources bearing on the patriarchs who
preceded Abraham at all, and the following strange
statement is the kind of light that is thrown on
the age of Abraham. " If there were elephants in
'the land of Haran' iioo years before Christ, it is
very probable that they were to be found in the
neighbourhood a thousand years earlier ; but notwith
standing any disadvantage which may have been felt
from the presence of these enormous beasts, it was
in all probability a sufficiently safe district for one
possessing flocks and herds. There is no reason to
suppose that the presence of elephants around Haran
in any way influenced the patriarch to leave the place,
for these animals were to be found (according to an
inscription supposed to have been written for the same
Assyrian king, Tiglath Pileser I.) in Lebanon, and
therefore in the country where Abraham settled after
quitting Haran" (p. 201).
" Ur of the Chaldees'' The following statement from
the point of view of a critical analysis of the documents,
by Dr. B. W. Bacon, Genesis of Genesis, p. 350, may be
compared with Dr. Driver's note on the same point.
" From the critical standpoint it is impossible to accept
Ur of the Chaldees ( = Ur Muqqayar in southern Baby
lonia) as the ' fatherland ' of Abram. Not to speak
of the fact that, as ancestor of Shem, Japheth, and
Canaan, Noah, in J^, would be out of place in Babylonia,
Gen. xxiv. 4, 7, 10 makes it a positive certainty that
in J^ Abram's ' fatherland ' was Aram Naharaim and
the city of Nahor. It is difficult to account for the
strange introduction here of the name of an extremely
ancient town in south Babylonia except as the necessity
of the Flood-story compelled its incorporator to adapt
the story to its scene. ' Ur of the Chaldees ' may well

Notes to Chapter III. 303
be regarded as the last link by which the great Flood
interpolation, based upon the Assyro-Chaldean national
epos, was attached to the primitive Hebrew saga.
Having taken Noah from Aram Naharaim, the home
of the vine, to the scene of the Babylonian Flood-story,
he must now bring back Noah's descendants from ' Ur
of the Chaldees' in order to attach his interpolation
to the primitive narrative of how Abram went forth
from Aram Naharaim and came into the land of
Canaan." The age of writing. It is now well known that writ
ing was extensively practised long before the Hebrews
came into Palestine ; but that does not prove that
literary culture was common in Israel in the earliest
period. " The act of writing belongs to the elements
of culture which were foreign to the nomadising
Israelites, and which they had first to learn from the
Canaanites. Towards the end of our period it was
generally used, and the prophets of the next decades
put their speeches into written form. But already
under Solomon all, the conditions of the origin of a
literature were present. Yet we cannot with certainty
maintain that the writing down of any of the pieces
of literature received by us actually took place at
that period" (Benzinger, Geschichte, Leipzig, 1904).
Cf. Driver's Genesis, p. 143.
On the .relation of the spiritual value of the patri
archal stories to their strict historical truth, see a fine
passage in McFadyen's O.T. Criticism and the Chris
tian Church, p. 334.
A uthority and A rchceology. Sacred and Profane; Essays
on the Relation of Monuments to Biblical and Classical
Literature, by several writers. Charles Scribner's Sons,
New York ; John Murray, Albemarle Street, London,
1899. Professor Dr. Fritz Hommel, Die altoriental-

304 Notes to Chapter IV.
ischen Denkmaler und das alte Testament,KineiKrwiderung
auf Professor Dr. Delitzsch's Babel und Bibel, Berlin,
1 903. The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical
Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia, by
Theophilus G. Pinches, LL.D., M.R.A.S. Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge, London ; E. and J. B.
Young & Co., New York, 1902. The Ancient Hebrew
Tradition, etc., by Dr. Fritz Hommel, Professor of
Semitic Languages in the University of Munich. Society
for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 1 897.

CHAPTER IV.
Popular Archceology. "When, in 1872, George
Smith succeeded in deciphering fragments of a
cuneiform flood-story, the jubilation on that side
of the channel and ocean knew no bounds. The
papers filled their pages and the clergymen their
sermons with information concerning the event, and
from this not a few dreamed that not only would the
Union Jack soon float over the pinnacles of the newly
found Noah's ark, but (even much more than that)
soon every doubt of the doubter and every scorn of
the scorner would undeniably and infallibly be put
to silence" (Kittel, Die Babylonische Ausgrabungen,
etc.: A Lecture, Leipzig, 1903).
" Also in Germany investigators have not tried to
keep clear of sensation, and they have always found
thankful hearers among practical theologians who
stood at a distance from scientific activity. There
have also been misunderstandings in cases in which
the wish was father to the thought. I remember read
ing recently in the papers that the wall had now been

Notes to Chapter IV. 305
laid bare on which Belshazzar saw written, Mene, mene,
tekel, upharsin," etc. A. Jeremias, Im Kampfe um
Babel und Bibel. (Lecture.) Leipzig, 1903.
Explorations in Bible Lands during the Nineteenth
Century, by Professor Hilprecht. Philadelphia, A. J.
Holman & Co.
Brief and reliable outlines with regard to the affairs
of Babylonia and Assyria may be found in such
volumes as Dr. Goodspeed's History (Charles Scribner's
Sons), Babylonian Religion and Mythology, by L. W.
King, M.A. (Kegan Paul & Co.).
On the " miracle of life," cf. Professor G. Buchanan
Gray's Divine Discipline of Israel, p. 1 2.
Jerahmeel Theory. There is no desire to speak
disrespectfully of Dr. Cheyne, but in a volume which
intends simply to report the chief results of criticism,
as accepted by the great body of scholars, there is no
space for the discussion of his new theory, and its
application to the text. In this connection, however,
his views on Winckler's Religtonsgeschichtlicher und
geschichtlicher Orient are interesting : " Speaking of
' presuppositions ' (see Winckler's title), there is one
of Winckler's fundamental principles which seems
rather doubtful. It is apparently an inference from
the dictum (p. S) that 'the Bible is not the product
of a people which fell down from another planet ; it
must, therefore, be understood from the spirit and the
culture which brought it forth.' From this Winckler
infers that to be a Bible-specialist you must first be
an Assyriologist. But is this really the case ? If it
is, an adequately equipped Bible-specialist does not
exist. It is almost useless to attempt to illuminate
an uncorrected text. Winckler knows this, but his
deficiencies are so great, that if we judged him as
severely as he seems to judge others he would have
20

3o6 Notes to Chapter IV.
to be excluded from the ranks of Bible-specialists.
But why, I ask, should this needless severity be prac
tised ? Why should we ' bite and devour one another ' ?
Why should we not learn each from the other ? Certainly
much may be learned from the sixty-four pages of this
little brochure, even though here as elsewhere the
author shows no evidence of an interest in religious
ideas as such. It is and must be difficult for ordinary
Bible-students to put themselves at the new point of
view so justly associated with the name of Winckler.
I recommend it, therefore, though with necessary
reserve. I cannot, e.g., endorse this statement (p.
lo'f.) that 'Abraham, Joseph, Moses are the founders
of the " Religion," who at the same time indicate the
relation of the Religion to the three cultures of the
three great " lands " into which the Old-Oriental world
may be divided.' Much as I desire that the study of
the Old Testament should absorb more than it has
done from Winckler and his school, I am convinced
that critically and historically trained Hebraists have
still much treasure to bring to light from their own
texts, and I think, therefore, that Winckler's very
interesting booklet on Abraham and Joseph will
require not a little revision " {The Review of Theology
and Philosophy, l^.n. 1907). On the Jerahmeel Theory
see an article by Professor N. Schmidt in the Hibbert
Journal, Jan. 1908.
The Tel el-Amarna Letters. For the letters them
selves Winckler's translation in German is recom
mended. English readers can procure a translation
of this published by Luzac, London, 1896. A clear
statement of their contents with illustrative quotations
is given by C. Niebuhr, Die Amarna-Zeit (Leipzig) ;
English translation published by David Nutt, London,
1 90 1. Boehmer's Lecture, referred to in the text,

Notes to Chapters V. and VI. 307
Aus den Tell-Amarna-Briefen, pp. 36, Giitersloh, is a
short statement written in a calm, clear, impartial spirit.
Syria and Egypt from the Tell el-Amarna Letters,
by Dr. W. M. Flinders Petrie, gives the substance of
the letters with brief notes on the significance of their
contents (pp. 189, Methuen & Co.). The " Khabiri,"
" confederates," are not the Hebrews, according to
this authority. Niebuhr says, " By the Habiri we
must here understand no other than the Hebrews,
who were therefore already to be found in the ' Pro
mised Land,' but had not yet firmly established
themselves there." " This name is explained as
' confederates,' or Hebrews, or connected with Hebron.
Linguistically all three are possible and all three
equally uncertain " (Boehmer, p. 3 2). " The Khabiri
turn out to have been bands of Hittite ' condottieri '
who sold their military services to the highest bidder "
(Sayce, Contemp. Review, August, 1905).
Another interesting discovery which could not be
discussed in the lectures is The Code of Hammurabi.
See, again, Winckler's translation, Die Gesetze Ham-
murabis (Leipzig, 1903); The Oldest Code of Laws,
C. H. W. Johns, M.A. (T. & T. Clark); Moses and
Hammurabi, Dr. J. Jeremias (Leipzig, 1903).

CHAPTERS V. AND VI.
It is not possible in a brief note to summarise the
literature, most of it of an ephemeral character, on
the Babel and Bible question. Those who have time
to go into the subject with any thoroughness can now
find, in English translations, the chief documents in the
case, and can form their own opinions. The present

3o8 Notes to Chapters V. and VI.
writer has gone over Winckler's tracts, Religions-
geschichtlicher und Geschichtlicher Orient, and Abraham
als Babylonier, since the writing of the chapters, and,
while acknowledging that there is much in them that
is stimulating and suggestive, and that modifications
of our views on many points may come from that
quarter, he cannot bring himself to believe that
anything so revolutionary as the view represented by
Winckler's Geschichte is, in the end, likely to prevail
(cf Note below on Baentsch's Monotheismus). One
of the best brief statements, from the point of view
of Old Testament Criticism, is that given by Professor
F. Giesebrecht in a lecture, Friede fUr Babel und
.5z(5^/ (Konigsberg, 1903).
This scholar has also given a brief review of the
points involved in this controversy in a small book,
Die Grundzuge der israelitischen Religionsgeschichte
(Leipzig, 1904), in which he maintains Israel's in
dependence in the matter of religion, and discusses
the precise nature of the " borrowing." See the
section on " Selbstandigkeit und Abhangigkeit der
alttestamentlichen Religion," p. 11. By the side of
Giesebrecht's contribution the following may be
mentioned, as fairly representative of the numerous
lectures bearing on this controversy : Im Kampfe um
Babel und Bibel, by Dr. A. Jeremias (Leipzig, 1903);
Die altorientalischen Denkmaler und das alte Testament
(Berlin, 1903). In English the conservative side is
represented in a recent volume, Light on the Old
Testament from Babel, by Dr. A. T. Clay (Philadelphia,
1907). A very able book from the critical stand
point is that of Alex. R. Gordon, D.Litt., The
Early Traditions of Genesis (T. & T. Clark, Edin
burgh). This is a monograph on Gen. i.-xi., dealing
with the linguistic, archaeological, and critical questions

Notes to Chapters V. and VI. 309
involved, showing along with competent learning, a
fine combination of courage and reverence.
In considering this side of the subject, significant
statements such as the following should receive special
consideration. " The writer of this article sketched
this outline from a study of numerous O.T. passages
about twelve years ago, and found in Jensen's Cos-
mologie der Bab., published in 1890, a diagram almost
identical in character, descriptive of the universe ac
cording to Bab. conceptions and based purely upon
the data of the cuneiform inscriptions " (Dr. O. C.
Whitehouse, art. "Cosmogony" in HDB i. S03-7).
The following comparison of the two accounts of
creation from a scholar who is at the same time an
enthusiastic student of the Babylonian records and a
firm believer in the reality of revelation, is worthy of
careful consideration. He sees clearly the similarities
of the two narratives, and finds the differences thus :
(i) In the security with which God is spoken of; all
heathen creation narratives speak at the same time
of the origin of the gods ; the cosmogonies are also
theogonies. The God who in Gen. i. has made heaven
and earth has nothing in common with His creation ;
He stands exalted over against His works.
(2) The powers working in creation and the visible
parts of creation appear in the other Oriental cosmo
gonies as gods and monsters. There is no trace of
these mythological figures to be found in Gen. i.
Only where the popular poetry describes the victory
of the living God over earthly and super-earthly powers
(exactly as the old German mythological forms in
Christian poetry) do they occur in figurative speech
(Rahab, Leviathan).
(3) The tendency of the Biblical narrative is purely
religious. It is meant to stimulate worship and thank-

3IO Notes to Chapter VII.
fulness towards the Almighty Creator and Preserver of
the world. Compare the lyrical echo of Gen. i. in
Ps. civ. The heathen cosmogonies do not serve a
religious purpose. The Epos Enuma elis has, for
example, a religious purpose ; it will furnish the proof
that Babylon has a claim on the dominion of the
world. The city god Marduk has created the world
(A. Jeremias, Im Kampfe, etc., p. 17). Two carefully
written articles by Dr. G. A. Barton, Biblical World,
1908 (Chicago), Foreign Influences in the Bible, etc.
The edition of Delitzsch's Three Lectures on Babel
and Bibel, published by the Open Court Co. (Chicago),
contains not only additional notes by the lecturer, but
also criticisms by several scholars.

CHAPTER VII.
Budde, Religion of Israel to the Exile. G. P.
Putnam's Sons, New York.
Marti, The Religion of the Old Testament. (" Crown
Theol. Lib.") G. P. Putman's Sons, New York.
Ottley, The Religion of Israel. The University
Press, Cambridge.
W. R. Smith, The Religion of the Semites. A. & C.
Black. Robertson, Early Religion of Israel. Blackwood &
Sons, 1892.
Addis, Hebrew Religion. {" Crown Theol. Lib.")
G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York).

CHAPTER VIIL
Day, The Social Life of the Hebrews. Charles
Scribner's Sons, New York.

Notes to Chapter IX. 3 1 1
Curtiss, Primitive Semitic Religion To-Day. Flem
ing H. Revell & Co.
Todd, Politics and Religion in Ancient Israel.
Macmillan.

CHAPTER IX.
Montefiore, Origin and Growth of Religion as illus
trated by the Religion of the Ancient Hebrews. (The
Hibbert Lectures, 1892.) Williams & Norgate,
London. Kent, A History of the Hebrew People. Charles
Scribner's Sons, New York.
Lyman Abbot, The Life and Literature of the
Ancient Hebrews. Houghton Mifflin & Co., Boston
and New York.
W. Robertson Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish
Church. A. & C. Black.
In connection with this chapter, a brief note on
Baentsch's Monotheismus will be quite in order, especi
ally as the book has been appealed to in proof of the
breakdown of " Wellhausenism." As a matter of fact,
it does not profess to be a refutation of the critical
conclusions, but simply calls for a revision of the
theological position so as to allow a fuller appropriation
of the light from Babylon. The good work done by
the Wellhausen school is gladly acknowledged (p.
108). The author does not deny the fact of develop
ment, but maintains that the idea of God in early Israel
was not so simple as many critics seem to suppose.
Fortunately Professor Baentsch has himself provided
us with a brief summary of what he regards as the
course of development in the religion of Israel. Here
it is :

312 Notes to Chapter IX.
I. Already the Jahve of the pre-Mosaic time was
no ordinary mountain God ; as God of the moving
region of the air and as astral God he had a more
comprehensive significance, to which a higher repre
sentation of God could easily be linked.
2. Moses was the founder of a religious or practical
monotheism ; for him Jahve had substantially the place
of the one true God ; but he set this Jahve in a special
relation to Israel, and enclosed him, so to speak, in the
limits of a national religion. Thus the other gods
were still in a certain measure recognised as gods of
the peoples, only Israel declined all relation to them.
3. The Jahve religion on Canaanite soil, and indeed
in pre-prophetic times, has, through the taking up of
Babylonian myths and speculations, developed a theo
retical or conceptional monotheism. This monotheism
as a doctrine has run a long time alongside the
nationally coloured monotheism without coming into
harmony with it, and thus gaining influence for the
religion of the people.
The great prophets of the eighth century were the
first to bring together Jahve, the world God, and the
national Jahve, and gradually to fuse them into an
organic unity. The most perfect fusion is shown in
the prophecy of Deutero- Isaiah (p. 104).
We have not space to criticise this in detail, we
simply point out that it is a doctrine of development,
that its author accepts the critical views as to the
literature, and that he makes the idea of the God of
the world to be brought in from outside instead of
growing up within Israel. See article " Moses and
Monotheism," by Dr. H. P. Smith, American Journal of
Theology, July 1908.

Notes to Chapter X. 313

CHAPTER X.
Bacon, The Genesis of Genesis.
„ The Triple Tradition of the Exodus. The
Student Publishing Co., Hartford.
Addis, The Documents of the Hexateuch. David
Nutt, London, 1892.
Carpenter and Battersby, The Hexateuch. (" Oxford
Hex.") Longmans, Green & Co., London.
Briggs, The Higher Criticism of the Hexateuch.
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
Kent, Narratives of the Beginnings of Hebrew
History. (" The Student's Old Testament.") Charies
Scribner's Sons, New York.
McFadyen, The Messages of the Prophetic and
Priestly Historians. Charles Scribner's Sons, New
York. Lenormant, Beginnings of History. Charles Scrib
ner's Sons, New York, 1893.
It is interesting to note that this book, which gives
the analysis of Genesis accepted by the critics, was
written by a specialist in ancient history and archae
ology. One of the most interesting books dealing with this
subject is Westphal's Les Sources du Pentateuque,
vol. i. (Paris, 1888). It gives a sketch of the move
ment which culminated in the formation of " The
Documentary Theory," and presents the ¦ course of
events in such a way as to show its dramatic character
and the inevitable nature of the result. The student
of this subject would do well to approach it first on
the side of its history ; he will thus be prepared both
to realise its essential truth and to understand the
modifications that are now in process. Fortunately

314 Notes to Chapter XI.
there are now many of these historical sketches avail
able (see Wellhausen on the Pentateuch in Encyc.
Brit) ; but the present writer must in this particular
confess his obligation to Westphal, who, in a charming
fashion, tells " how out of the bosom of tradition, to
which the mass of the faithful were clinging, a doubt
as to the authenticity of the Pentateuch could arise;
how this doubt, timid and uncertain, found in the
intellectual centres illumined by the Reformation the
means of transforming itself into a scientific idea ; how
the discoveries of Astruc and the impulse of indepen
dent criticism made of this idea a burning question,
which during more than a century was the scorn of
science and kindled the passions of thinking men ;
finally, how criticism, pacified, finished by establishing
agreement among exegetes as to an idea of the Mosaic
books far removed from the data supplied by tradi
tion."

CHAPTER XI.
The books referred to under Chapter II.
An important contribution from the side of Philo
sophy is given by John Watson, M.A., LL.D., in a
recent volume, entitled The Philosophical Basis of
Religion. Maclehose, Glasgow, 1907.
Survivals in Christianity, by C. J. Wood. Mac
millan, 1893.
A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Futuj'e Life,
by R. H. Charles, D.D. A. & C. Black.
The Problem of Suffering in the Old Testament, by
A. S. Peake, M.A. Kelly, London.
The Use of the Scriptures in Theology, by W. N.
Clarke, D.D. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh.

Notes to Chapter XII. 315

CHAPTER XII.
Ryle, On Holy Scripture and Criticism. London,
Macmillan & Co.
Ottley, Aspects of the Old Testament. (Bampton
Lectures, 1897.) Longmans, Green & Co., London
and New York.
A. Stopford Brooke, The Old Testament and
Modern Life. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York.
Cheyne, Aids to the Devout Study of Criticism.
T. Fisher Unwin.
As a specimen of good analytic work, reference may
be made to a recent book on Jeremiah, by J. R. Gillie,
a minister of the Presbyterian Church of England.
Hodder & Stoughton.

CHAPTER XIII.
Gunkel, The Legends of Genesis. (Trans. Carruth.)
The Open Court Co., Chicago.
Peters, Early Hebrew Story. (" Crown Theol.
Library.") Williams & Norgate, London ; G. P. Put
nam's Sons, New York.
Duff, Abraham. J. M. Dent & Co., London.
Ryle, The Early Narratives of Genesis. Mac
millan. It scarcely seems necessary at this stage of our
progress to construct a serious argument against the
allegorical method. That method had its uses, and
even radical critics are prepared to acknowledge that
it was not a wilful perversity or an unmixed evil. But
if criticism has any function at all, it is to enable us to

3i6 Notes to Chapter XIII.
dispense with allegorical interpretations by patiently
investigating the real nature of each story or poem.
To speak of the first three chapters of Genesis as
allegory {The Churchman' s Introduction) is misleading.
Popular books, which in an easy fashion undertake to
demolish the critics, are apt to turn to the ancient
method as a relief from modern difficulties. The
average man who does not know Hebrew may with
safety be told that " whenever the word ' man ' occurs
in the Old Testament it is the Hebrew ' Adam," "
and that this word " literally signifies ' earth ' and
refers to the earthly man " ; and he will be very much
enlightened by the statement that " of course the
generic man at the beginning was the Historic Adam
who faced the problems of moral discipline." But we
have to confess that in no other realm of science do
we meet with such attempts to settle great questions.
H. A. Johnston, Bible Criticism and the Average Man,
p. 93. Revell.
Let the student read carefully a small volume. The
Interpretation of the Bible, by Dr. Gilbert. Mac
millan. Dr. N. Schmidt in his volume. The Prophet of
Nazareth, remarks on the allegorical method : " It
saved the Old Testament in its conflict with Greek
thought," but its disadvantage is that it " draws atten
tion away from grammatical sense, literary form, and
historic setting, to a hidden meaning organically
connected with the body of accepted doctrine. It
finds the same unchanged ideas everywhere in the
Scriptures. Its legacy is a certain inability to dis
tinguish between things that differ, an often un
conscious tendency to overlook inconsistencies and
contradictions, a proneness to view ideas scattered
through a literature extending over a thousand years

Notes to Chapter XIV. 317
as integral parts of one system of thought, a lack of
historic sense."

CHAPTER XIV.
A. B. Davidson, Old Testament Prophecy. T. & T.
Clark, Edinburgh.
W. G. Jordan, Prophetic Ideas and Ideals. Fleming
H. Revell, New York and Toronto.
W. R. Smith, The Prophets of Israel. D. Apple-
ton & Co., New York.
L. W. Batten, The Hebrew Prophet. Methuen & Co.,
London. Cornill, The Prophets of Israel. The Open Court
Co., Chicago.
Sanders and Kent, The Messages of the Prophets.
2 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
With regard to this chapter, the statement should be
carefully noted that no attempt is made to give even
an incomplete sketch of the prophetic teaching such as
may be found in the books mentioned above ; the aim
is merely to point to the great ethical contribution of
the prophets, and to maintain that here there is a
permanent element which, while it is taken up and
transcended in Christianity, continues in its ancient
form to be of the highest service to mankind.

INDEX.

Amos i. : loi.
„ i. I : 193.
„ V. 23 : 261.
Abbot, Lyman, 311.
Abraham, 54 ff., 134, 179 ff., 263 ff.
Achan, 187.
Addis, 310, 313.
Alexandria, 33.
Allegorism, I3f., 118, 315 f.
Ancestor Worship, 164.
Ancient Stories, 250 ff.
Apocrypha, 34, 298.
Apologetic Criticism, 10.
Archeology, 3, 25, 42 ff. ; testi
mony of, 48 ff. ; tentative char
acter of, 55, 66 ; external evi
dence, 73, 88, 127, 299, 301, 304,
313-
Arnold, Matthew, 243 f., 284.
Assyriology and Criticism, 44 f. ;
and Old Testament, 64 f.

Babel, tower of, 25 1 ff.
Babylon, 45, 58 ff., 66 ff. ; and the
Bible, 85 ff., 108 ff., 137, 173, 188,
252 ff., 298, 304, 309-
Babylonian Cosmogony, ii7ff.
Bacon, Prof., 224, 302, 313.
Baentsch, Prof., 280, 290, 311.
Barton, Dr. G. A., 310.
Batten, L. W., 317.
Bennett, Prof. W^. H., 2965., 300.
Benzinger, Prof., 303.
Blood-revenge, 171 ; the Ban, 170.

Boehmer, 70, 306.
Bradley, A. C., 240.
Briggs, Prof. C, 313.
British Weekly, 297.
Brooke, A. Stopford, 315.
Budde, Prof., 145, 150 ff., 298, 310.
Buhl, Prof., 298.

Cain, 258 ff. ; mark of, 263, 278.
Calamity and sin, 172.
Canon, the, 30, 31, 33 ff., 298.
Carpenter, 313.
Charles, R., 314.
Cheyne, Prof., 73, 305, 315.
Chronology, 49, 193.
Clay, A. T., 308.
Cornill, 317.
Creation, 49, 113, 117, 119, 309.
Criticism, i, 5 ; mediating nature
of, 10 ; results of, 17 ; popular
suspicion of, 23 ; real character
of, 26, 36; and archEeology, 42 ff. ;
long history of, 64 ; treatment of
history, 135 ; of narratives, 250 ;
of Pentateuch, 198, 208; and the
preacher, 236; and Theology,
216; and the average man, 316.
Curtiss, Prof., 155, 311.

Deut. xviii. : 271, 273.
„ xxxiv. 10: 156,271,273.
Daniel, Book of, 225.
David, 100, 135, 172, 192, 244.
9

320

Index

Davidson, Prof. A. B., 46, 317.
Day, Dr., 94, 163, 310.
Delitzsch, Prof., 45, 73 ff., 91, 98,
105, no, 115.
Deluge, the, 49, 52, 123 ff., 172,
229.
Deutero-Isaiah, loi, 245 f.
Dillmann, Prof., 46.
Documentary Theory, 198 ff., 290,
313-
Dods, Dr. Marcus, 248, 296.
Driver, Prof., 46 ff., 56 ff., 61, 116,
201, 260, 298, 302 f.
Duff, Prof. A., 315.
Duhm, Prof., 183.

Ex. XV. 20 : 273.
Ezek. viii. 9 : 163.
Eighteenth Century and Criticism,
II.
Election, 8, 232.
Elijah, 275 ff-
Evolution, 8, 139, 155, 161, 176,
208, 214, 233, 312.
Exile, the, 102.
Expository Times, 288.

Gen. i.-ii. 4a : 117, ii9-
„ i.-xii. : 120.
„ ii.4^-iii. : 113,234,247,
„ iv., v. : 258 ff
„ vi. 1-5 : 77, 229.
„ viii. 21 : 124.
„ xiv. 18 : 80.
„ xvii. 5 : 58.
„ xviii. : 248.
„ xxii. : 185, 264.
„ xxxv. 8 : 20, 164.
Giesebrecht, F., 308.
Gilbert, 316.
God, idea of, 194 ff.
Goodspeed, Dr., 305.
Gordon, Prof. A. R., 308.
Gray, Prof. G.B.J, 308.
Grotefend, 65.

Gunkel, 183, 247, 254 ff., 265,
275 ff., 315.

Heb. vii. : 80.
Hos. vi. : 6, 261.
„ xii. 14 : 273.
„ „ 24 : 261.
Habiri, 81, 307.
Hammurabi, 76.
Haupt, Dr. Paul, 300.
Hebrew Bible, 33 ; universal
power of, 21 ; as literature, 28 ;
as religious book, 39 ; human
element of, 209.
Hebrew People, 53 ff.
Hebrew Religion, Early, i3off.
Hilprecht, Prof., 305.
Historical Development, 175 ff.,
230.
Hommel, Prof., 45, 52, 57 f., 71,
125, 252, 303, 304.
Human Sacrifice, 168 ff., 185,
265.

Isa. i. 12 : 261.
vi. I : 193.
viii. 19 : 167.
ix. 5 : 243.
xl.-lv. : loi, 225, 292.
xlvii. 13 : 86.
Iv. 13 : 107.
Immortality, hope of, I72f.
Independent, the, 298.
¦Ingersoll, 15.
Inspiration, 10, 35 ff., 53, 92, 139,
145, iS6f., 209 ff., 224, 231, 233,
249, 250, 273, 280.
Isaac, 154.
Isaiah, Book of, analysed, 244 ff.
Israel, history of, 97 ff, 133,
143-

Josh. vi. 17 : 170.
„ x. 12, 13 : 224.

Index

321

Judg. xi. : 264.
,, XV. 16, ig : 224.
Jacob, 54, 62.
Jensen, 309.
Jerahmeel Theory, 73, 305.
Jeremias, Dr. A., 126, 308, 300.
Jeremias, Dr. J., 307.
Johns, C. H. W., 307.
Johnston, H. R., 316.
Jordan, W. G., 238, 239, 317.

2 Kings iii. 27 : 264.
Kautzsch, Prof., 156, 161, 165.
Kent, Prof., 134, 260, 296, 299,
3ii>3i7-
King, L. W., 305.
Kirkpatrick, Prof., 296.
Kittel, Prof., 304.
St. Luke X. 37 : 76.
„ xiii. 3 : 124.
Lenormant, 313.
Loofs, 258.

Micah vi. : 264.
„ vi. 8: 195.
Margoliouth, Prof., 291.
Marti, Prof., 162, 246, 271 f., 310.
McCurdy, Prof., 300.
McFadyen, Prof, 216 f., 230, 296,
303, 313.
Melchizedek, 80.
Miriam, 273.
Monotheism, 165.
Montefiore, 311.
Mormonism, 160.
Moses, 15, 32, 56, 99, 135 ff-, 193 f-,
209, 260, 273, 276.

Num. xii. 2 : 273.
„ xxi. 2: 170.
21

Num. xxv. : 277.
Niebuhr, C, 306.
Nineteenth Century and Criti
cism, 2 ff.

Old Testament, interpretation of,
iff.; as left by criticism, 17 ff. ;
as a problem, 37 ff. ; scientific
study of, 47 ff.; relation of O.T.
study to Assyriology, 65, 75,
78, 89 f. ; influence of Babylon
on, 92, 119 ff. ; to be explained
from itself, 128 ; story of a
living religion, 166 ; importance
of documentary theory, 199,
203, 208, 212 ; aids to the study
of, 186, 219; the Revisers of,
224, 225 ; paradox of, 241.
Orr, Prof., 37 f, 51, 130, 177,
i83ff., 2l9f., 228, 251, 287 ff.
Ottley, 315.

Ps. xl. : 133.
„ Ii- : 133, 191.
„ Ixxiii. : 172, 174.
„ cxxxvii. : 85f.
„ cxxxix. . 165, 191, 194.
Paradise, iisff, 247.
Paterson, Prof, 288, 290.
Paul, St., 149, 176, 214, 264.
Peake, Prof, 289, 304.
Pentateuch, 15, 141 ff., 201 ff.
Peters, 47, 315.
Petrie, Fhnders, 81, 307.
Pinches, Dr., 57 ff., 77,253,301,
304-
Polydemonism, 165.
Polygamy, 171.
Polytheism, 165.
Preacher, work of, 14, 19, 62,
236 ff.
Priests' Code, 125, 140.
Prophets, 16, 20, 86, 88, 99, loi,
132, 142, 148 ff., 157, 268 ff., 317-
Puritans, 8, 16, 147.

322

Index

Rationalism, ii, 36, 38, 155, 177,
185, 209, 220, 226, 234, 291.
Reformation and Criticism, 5, 34.
Reich, Dr. Emil, 301.
Revelation of St. John, 103.
Revelation, 136, 18 1, 212, 218,
263, 272 ; and literature, 28,
231, 233 ; and historic de
velopment, i54ff., 175 ff.
Revised Version, 243.
Ripon, Bishop of, 296.
Robertson, Dr. James, 130, 135,
179 ff., 270.
Ryle, Dr., 298, 315.
I Sam. XV. 3 : 170.
„ XX. 29 : 164.
2 „ XXI. 1-14 : 133, 265.
Sabbath, iioff.
Sacrificial worship, 260.
Sanders, 317.
Saul, 100, 169.
Sayce, Prof., 24 f, 36, 44 ff., 52,
56f., 72, 297, 307.
Schmidt, N., 316.
Schodde, Prof., 227.
Scrimger, Dr., 288.
Semitic Religion, 47, 97, 155,
revival, 4.
Slavery, 171.
Smith, Goldwin, 15, 27.
Smith, Dr. G. A., 270, 296, 299.
Smith, Dr. H. P. 312.

Smith, Dr. Robertson, 46, 158,
162 f., 310 f.
Spade, The, and the Critic, 301.
Spiritualism, 167.
Stade, Dr. Bernhard, 131, 136,155,
162, 272, 273.
Steuernagel, 290.

Tel el-Amarna, 78 ff., 306.
Tennyson, Lord, 235.
Todd, Dr., 187 ff., 241.
Totemism, 161 ff.

Ur ofthe Chaldees, 58.
Volck, 216.

Watson, Prof. J., 314.
Wellhausen, Prof, 46, 53, 220, 227.
Westphal, 303.
Whitehouse, 300.
Winckler, Prof, 67, 72, loo, 104,
135, 305, 308.
Wood, C. J., 304.
World, age of, 39, 49, 68, 120,
193, 252.
Writing, age of, 50, 51, 297, 303.

Zimmern, Prof, 45, 300.

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